I liked this book in the sense that it did more to shed light on the events, the motives, and the aftermath of Columbine than anything I had seen or read before. I think what the book does best, is balancing the story of the survivors, the investigators, and the community, with the narrative of the killers, which is paramount in answering the biggest question to come out of this tragedy: why? On the other hand, I felt sick reading this book, which I think is a result of growing up after Columbine (I turned two on April 20, 1999), the book played on my worst fears from high school. One of the first things that struck me while reading this book is how some of the myths that came from the reporting just after the shooting are still present today.
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The author explained, “one hour into the Columbine horror, news stations were informing the public that two or more gunmen were behind it. Two hours in, the Trench Coat Mafia were to blame” (150). Much of their information seemed to be from students, but as the author explains “the writers assumed kids were informing the media. It was the other wat around” (151). I struggle to understand how reporters would view students—how had no known connection to the killers—as reliable sources, keeping in mind what the author had explained early: witness testimony is …show more content…
It seems that before Columbine, the commonly held sentiment was that this was just not something that happened. Whereas, growing up, I was overly aware that school shootings could happen anywhere. There was a constant police presence in my school, from Elementary to High School. I originally thought, in middle school in particular, they were there in case there was a school shooting, but I recall reading in this book that there was an officer at Columbine before the shooting. I also remember the yearly “Code Red” drills. It was a horrifying experience really, to have to turn off all the lights and squeeze up against a wall with all of my classmates, as an imaginary shooter (a police officer or the principal) would walk around jiggling doorknobs, but often times people were giggling or playing on their cell phones, or—if the teacher didn’t really care too much—carrying on quiet conversations. I think the effects of Columbine are still very much in the school’s memory, but my classmates and my younger siblings, cannot recollect the horror of Columbine. It shook our society to its core. I think that, the more we see these incidents, however, we become more desensitized from them. After the ripple effect that Columbine had, in inspiring copycat shootings, gun violence seems to have become a widely accepted reality. (In my own high school there seemed to be a disconnection from the gravity of these
The author explained, “one hour into the Columbine horror, news stations were informing the public that two or more gunmen were behind it. Two hours in, the Trench Coat Mafia were to blame” (150). Much of their information seemed to be from students, but as the author explains “the writers assumed kids were informing the media. It was the other wat around” (151). I struggle to understand how reporters would view students—how had no known connection to the killers—as reliable sources, keeping in mind what the author had explained early: witness testimony is …show more content…
It seems that before Columbine, the commonly held sentiment was that this was just not something that happened. Whereas, growing up, I was overly aware that school shootings could happen anywhere. There was a constant police presence in my school, from Elementary to High School. I originally thought, in middle school in particular, they were there in case there was a school shooting, but I recall reading in this book that there was an officer at Columbine before the shooting. I also remember the yearly “Code Red” drills. It was a horrifying experience really, to have to turn off all the lights and squeeze up against a wall with all of my classmates, as an imaginary shooter (a police officer or the principal) would walk around jiggling doorknobs, but often times people were giggling or playing on their cell phones, or—if the teacher didn’t really care too much—carrying on quiet conversations. I think the effects of Columbine are still very much in the school’s memory, but my classmates and my younger siblings, cannot recollect the horror of Columbine. It shook our society to its core. I think that, the more we see these incidents, however, we become more desensitized from them. After the ripple effect that Columbine had, in inspiring copycat shootings, gun violence seems to have become a widely accepted reality. (In my own high school there seemed to be a disconnection from the gravity of these