High School Shootings While Schools

High School Shootings

While schools are seen in terms of statistics as being the safest place for children (Poland, 2003, p. 4), yet the upsurge in school violence and shootings at schools in the country is a grave cause for concern. The increased incidence of school shooting and random acts of violence has resulted in a timely and essential evaluation from educationists and other professionals of the underlying reasons for these shootings and an examination of their common characteristics. It has been realized that in order to combat this increase in shootings, greater understanding is necessary of the origins of these criminal actions among the youth.

On of the earliest reported incidents of this form of violence was a shooting incident in Missouri involving a twelve-year-old boy in 1987. On March 2, 1987, an honor student, Nathan Ferris, Killed a classmate with a firearm he had brought to school. He then turned the gun on himself. Although this is not commonly seen as a high profile case and is not as dramatic as recent shooting such as the Columbine massacre, yet this shooting showed some characteristics that apply to many of the later shootings.

The first and most obvious characteristic of the incident is that Ferris was perceived, and perceived himself, as an outsider at his school, where he was teased and bullied. He was also overweight which added to his ostracism. Many of the shooting in schools can be ascribed to the issue of isolation and alienation in society. A second aspect is the evidence of teasing and bullying, which adds to the sense of alienation that the child experiences.

While alienation and bulling at schools may be two elements that tend to reappear in many other cases, it should also be borne in mind that there are many other variables and element that affect school shootings. Among these is the fact that the perpetrator of the crime may be mentally unstable or be affected by emotional developmental problems that originate outside of the school.

Another aspect that has been highlighted the use of narcotics as a factor. For example, sixteen-year-old Jeff Weise killed nine persons and himself in Red Lake, Minnesota. This has been recorded as second deadliest shooting incident at schools in the country after Columbine, where fifteen people were killed. In attempting to explain these actions a report from the Washington Post notes,"... he was taking Prozac and had been previously hospitalized for suicidal tendencies. " ("School Shooter Took Mood-Altering," 2005, p. A03)

Weise began his shooting spree on March 21, 2005, by shooting to death his grandfather, who was a policeman. Armed with two handguns and a shotgun, which he allegedly obtained from his grandfather, he first drove a pickup truck into a wall at Red Lake High School in northern Minnesota. He then walked into a classroom and killed four students. The students pleaded for mercy. He then continued shooing in another classroom. Among those who were killed were five students, a female teacher and a security guard. Fourteen more students were wounded.

He then shot himself after a shootout with the police who had arrived on the scene.

Many expert tend towards the view that a central characteristic of this shooting was the perpetrator's sense of loneliness and isolation, which is a central feature in many other shootings.

They, like Jeff, were lonely, troubled, and hopeless." (Sallee, 2005) in this case there were many signs and indications of a disturbed child with various problems. His father had committed suicide and his mother was in a nursing home after and accident. More importantly in terms of the school environment, Weise was taunted at school for being overweight and for his personal beliefs and lifestyle, which included an interest and alleged admiration for Hitler.

Jeff was a loner at school who was made fun of for his girth and Goth clothing and someone who expressed in a variety of ways his admiration for Hitler. He was reportedly teased by classmates, held back two grades, rarely talked to by peers, and was nearly isolated due to a homebound education program. He may have felt alienated because his classmates were frightened by him and his gang activity in school. (Seita, 2005)

Another characteristic of this shooting, which is found in many others, is the macabre sense of revenge and even "enjoyment "in the actions of shooting others. As a newspaper report states: "Seventeen-year-old Jeff Weise grinned and waved as he walked down the corridor firing as he went." ("TEN DIE in SCHOOLGUN," 2005, p. 1)

Another high profile case which is similar in many respects to that of Weise, was the murder of three people by Luke Woodham on October 1, 1997. The sixteen-year-old high school sophomore killed his ex-girlfriend Christina Menefee and her friend Lydia Dew, and wounded 7 others in Pearl, Mississippi. Prior to the school shooting, Woodham also killed his mother with a butcher's knife"... apparently because he was distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend." (Kelleher, 1998, p. 48)

With a rifle under his coat he entered the school and fired at his former girlfriend and various other students. He killed two students immediately and wounded others. While trying to escape in his mother's car he was rammed by another vehicle and taken into custody.

There are some differences here to the previous example. The Woodham incident tended to focus on a specific emotional problem with a girlfriend and suggested that the crime was more the result of emotional immaturity and the inability to deal with rejection - although, of course, the reason may be much more complex and deep - seated. A clue to his state of mind can be gleaned from reports of what he said to a classmate before the shooting. It read: "I am not insane. I am angry." (Kelleher, 1998, p. 48)

However, many of the same markers or characteristics found in the Weise case appear in this case. Woodham was also enthused by figures like Hitler and was also subjected to bullying and alienation. It is suggested that the figure of Hitler served as a symbol of power which made him feel "... powerful in light of the bullying he received from classmates in Pearl, Mississippi." (Kelleher, 1998, p. 48) More enlightening is his remarks that point to a common thread in the perceived rationale for these terrible crimes. "I killed because people like me are mistreated every day," he said. "I did this to show society: Push us and we will push back." (Kelleher, 1998, p. 48)

There are various aspects of this case which are strongly indicative of the thesis that these shootings were influenced by an " outcast syndromes" and feelings of intense isolation. As Moffat (2000) states" by all accounts Luke Woodham was teased and picked on from his earliest school days. In spite of the teasing, Woodham was described as a quiet boy who just absorbed the insults, never even responding, concentrating on his grades and his job at a Domino's Pizza restaurant where he had aspirations of entering an assistant manager's program." (Moffatt, 2000, p. 119)

In another well-known case, Kipland Kinkel, a fifteen-year-old Springfield, Oregon high school student, calmly walked into his school with a.22-caliber rifle, a.22-caliber handgun and a Glock semiautomatic pistol. (Anelauskas, 1999, p. 247)

He then began firing randomly at over 400 students. He killed two and wounded twenty more. He shot and killed both his parents before leaving for school. The causative factors in this case are complex. Kinkel came from a good and supportive home and was by all accounts "...an all-American kid." (Anelauskas, 1999, p. 247)

However further investigation showed some anomalies in his background. He was, obsessed with violence, expressing an interest in explosives, guns, and violent television programs. Initially, his parents restricted his viewing, but when they caught him violating this restriction they disconnected the TV altogether. Kip began associating with some young men that his parents believed were a bad influence." (Moffatt, 2000, p. 127)

He was also interested in bomb making. This tends to suggest that the cause of violence in this case, and possibly in many other cases, was largely due to the pervasiveness of media violence and exposure of violent images on TV and the Internet.

Section two: theories and recommendations

There are many theories that have been suggested about the causes for school shootings. Some of these have been already been alluded to in the above discussion. However on the basis of the above research one of the most obvious and pervasive theories about the cause of these shootings is the common denominators of difference, isolation and alienation and the negative reaction to difference from other student and the school and society in general. In many case intolerance to individual different was the direct or indirect cause of the shootings. As Seitla (2005) states. "...there are many youth showing such risks... Unless system resources are redirected to kids... we ignore them at our own peril. " (Seita, 2005)

Of course there are many other factors and variables that can be included in a theory of why these shootings take place. As can be deduced from the examples in section one, these causative theories include the taking of drugs, as well as immature emotional responses and the influence of the media in the portrayal of images of violence that are accepted by the larger culture. Another factor is the relative accessibility of weapons. While these factors form part the main causative theories, they all tend to indicate that the root underlying cause lies in the structure of the society itself and the intolerance at schools for those who appear and act differently to the norm. This would also seem to suggest that this intolerance is a reflection of the larger society and the inability to accept those who are "different" in any sense.

Aligned with the above view is the fact that society and schools often do not provide enough support for youngsters who may not be emotionally mature. Emotional instability and the lack of a mature response to life events have been named as a cause in the case of Luke Woodham. "When adolescents like Luke Woodham try to describe the inexplicable forces of anger and rage that sometimes overwhelm them, they are almost always at a loss to characterize precisely the genesis of such strong emotions." (Kelleher, 1998, p. 48) This theory would suggest that greater efforts should be made to communicate with and help young people to cope with the demands of a rapidly changing and demanding world and to deal with their emotional problems in a constructive way. From the research it is also clear that assistance and research is necessary to uncover and deal with hidden rage..

As a result of these shooting incidents there is a "...growing awareness by school administrators that school violence could occur at their school. " (Poland, 2003, p. 4)

In order to deal with this problem there have been attempts to improve communication and response between schools and local police as well as on "... clarifying procedures should a crisis occur." (Poland, 2003, p. 4) However while this measures may help to prevent further shooting they do not solve the origins of the problem but merely control its occurrence. What is needed is a more holistic and interactive approach which improves not only communions between pupils and school authorities but also interaction between parents, school and pupils, in order to identity problem areas before they begin.

Other aspects that should be improved are the reduction of gun availability to children and the negative influence of media violence on young children. In the final analysis this is an issues problem which reflects on a wider problem within the society itself; as well as on the issue of intolerance and alienation related to the culture as a whole. As some critic suggest, the disparities and divisions in the society often emerge in the school. "The school shootings are but a tiny symptom of a vastly greater problem. (Morgan, 1999, p. 4)

References www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=99315754

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Bender, W.N., Shubert, T.H., & Mclauchlin, P.J. (2001). Invisible Kids: Preventing School Violence by Identifying Kids in Trouble. Intervention in School & Clinic, 37(2), 105+. Retrieved March 2, 2007, from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000908777 www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5014064046

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