The Triangle

Issue date: 5/8/09 Section: Ed-Op

Media Credit: MCT

In the past decade there have been a variety of explanations and theories as to why Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did what they did. But the reality is that no matter how many experts are consulted or however many books are written, no one can really give us the real answers other than Harris and Klebold themselves. And while the acts they committed were horrific and caused the community of Littleton, Colo. an enormous amount of grief and pain, it is a known fact that the Harris and Klebold themselves were extremely troubled.

Many of us look back on high school and are grateful that we got through it, survived and went on to college. However, Harris and Klebold couldn't survive and they couldn't see a bright future ahead of them. According to ABC news, Harris was a psychopath with "controlling, manipulative and sadistic" tendencies and Klebold was a manic-depressive loner, "full of suppressed emotional rage."

Together, this pair formed a plan actually hoping to kill 500 people, which failed when the bombs they constructed did not detonate. They were mislabeled as the "trench coat mafia" since they wore trench coats on the day of the school shooting. However, it was later confirmed that neither Harris or Klebold were influenced at all by the mafia, the trench coats were worn to simply conceal their weapons.

Brooks Brown, who was a friend of both Harris and Klebold, was essentially ostracized and shunned. Just like the other students of Columbine though, Brown was shocked and terrified and received absolutely no support. What the community failed to recognize though was just because Brown had spent time playing video games with Harris and Klebold, did not mean he helped plan a school shooting.

I think the most unfortunate thing about the Columbine school shooting was the inability of a nation to provide effective measures in the aftermath. The attempts to decrease violence in schools, address the problem of bullying and help troubled teens did not prove effective. According to ABC, in the decade following Columbine, there have been over 80 school shootings in the United States. Sure, the metal detectors and security cameras are necessary, but what needs the most attention and focus is the student body.

In high school, it is easy for a teen to feel lost and invisible. Clearly this is true because until Harris and Klebold shot and killed 13 classmates and then themselves, no one really seemed to pay them any attention. And the fact that those two boys, who were so severely troubled with issues that could have been resolved or at least combated were ignored, is the most troubling thing of all. In high school there seems to be only a select few who get to shine, like the football team's quarterback or the head cheerleader. Everyone else just has a tendency to blend into the sea of people they walk the halls with.

Continued...

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