The Columbine Massacre essays

The Columbine Massacre essays The Columbine high school massacre took place in April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School in Jefferson County near Littleton, Colorado, United States, when two teenage students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, executed a planned attacked, killing 12 other students and a teacher before killing themselves (Wikipedia, 2004). It is believed to be the worst school After the shootings, the media painted a picture of the murderers as outcast "nerds" who were unpopular and teased by much of the school's population (Wikipedia, 2004). However, later reports revealed that both Harris and Klebold had both a close circle of friends and a wider informal social group. It was also revealed that anti-gay epithets were directed at them, although their actual sexual orientation was unknown; both had girlfriends at some point, though. Harris and Klebold were members of a clique called the "Trenchcoat Mafia" in which they wore heavy black trench coats. By the time of the shootings, most of the major members of the group had already either graduated or dropped out of Columbine. Since the murders, there have been a variety of theories attempting to explain why Harris and Klebold committed the crime (Cullen, 2004). A popular theory is that the boys, who were known as the "Trench Coat Mafia outcasts" took revenge against the bullies who had made school miserable for them. A second conclusion is that the massacre was inexplicable: It is impossible to understand what drove them to such horrific violence. However, recently, the FBI and its team of psychiatrists and psychologists came to an entirely different conclusion (Cullen, 2004). These experts say that they understand what motivated Harris and Klebold to execute such a crime, and their explanation is different and more troubling than the two conclusions that were previously most widely believed. Three months after the crime took place, the FBI held a meeting ...