BRISTOL, Connecticut, U.S.A. — Something is very wrong here.
A few years ago the term “school shooting” was not in our general vocabulary. But since October 1997, incidences of children firing on their classmates have become national news seven times.
The most severe case is the most recent. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold began spraying bullets into their Littleton, Colo. high school less than a week ago, and they were out to kill.
They were laughing. They screamed racial prejudices and said peek-a-boo before firing. It was a game to them.
It is happening over and over again. It’s like a sick new fad.
Because of the number of these incidents in such a short period of time, it is obvious that something in our society is disturbed. These children are angry and violent. Something is telling them that it is okay to shoot their peers and teachers.
Violence isn’t anything new to this country. We are faced with murder and gore on a daily basis in the media.
But what is so fundamentally wrong right now? How are children being led to feel this is their most appealing option?
An answer to these questions is overdue.
It should be clear that we aren’t doing nearly enough if it has happened seven times. What more do the children have to do to tell society that something isn’t right?
People died for this red flag to be put up. They were victims of more than just a few kids with guns. They were the victims of a society too preoccupied to deal with its youth.
Hopefully we’re hearing this message. We can’t afford to overlook it any longer.
Shaina Zura is a Reporter for Youth Journalism International.
See this entire issue of The Tattoo:
Kids who kill: school massacre raises fears (Chantelle Garzone, Amanda Lehmert, Collin Seguin, Jessica Majerus and Laura Lindstrom)
