We all are affected by the attack in one way or another. Students, adults, the elderly, EVERYONE. We can guess a few ways it affects us. There are things about it that affect us but we have no clue it affects us. There are ways it physically affects us like with dress codes changing and higher security plus some stuff with medicine, at the same time there is a mental aspect of it like the irrational fear of people in gothic attire or the fear of “what if it happens again”.
Firstly dress codes have changed a lot sure we still have the no shoulder stuff (which I don’t get who is distracted by shoulders?) and the no wearing shirts with foul language. Some school’s haven’t really enforced new dress codes but some have. A lot of school make kids where uniforms for many reasons such as, It helps keep cliques down and it makes it hard for kids to hide weapons. There was also a video advising schools to not allow baggy clothing. Although this helps make it harder for kids to hide weapons it does limit kids self expression. Self expression without judgment makes kids happy to be at school. Personally I hate going to school not because of work it’s because I can’t be myself and wear what I want free of judgment from the school and the kids. A good example is I wore a trench coat on 4/20 to hide the fact I was wearing a dress because I knew I was going to be made fun of the school made me take it off and people made fun of me. 4/20 to means ‘national weed day’ or Hitler’s birthday really nothing to do with Columbine and I wore the coat because I feel really bad about myself when I present myself in a feminine way the teasing wouldn’t of made anything better. I told everyone this but since Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold wore it on this day when they decided to shoot up their school I automatically want to shoot up my school and I worship them. Fun fact: I’ve always found trench coats cool and wore them as much as I could way before I knew anything about Columbine.
Firstly dress codes have changed a lot sure we still have the no shoulder stuff (which I don’t get who is distracted by shoulders?) and the no wearing shirts with foul language. Some school’s haven’t really enforced new dress codes but some have. A lot of school make kids where uniforms for many reasons such as, It helps keep cliques down and it makes it hard for kids to hide weapons. There was also a video advising schools to not allow baggy clothing. Although this helps make it harder for kids to hide weapons it does limit kids self expression. Self expression without judgment makes kids happy to be at school. Personally I hate going to school not because of work it’s because I can’t be myself and wear what I want free of judgment from the school and the kids. A good example is I wore a trench coat on 4/20 to hide the fact I was wearing a dress because I knew I was going to be made fun of the school made me take it off and people made fun of me. 4/20 to means ‘national weed day’ or Hitler’s birthday really nothing to do with Columbine and I wore the coat because I feel really bad about myself when I present myself in a feminine way the teasing wouldn’t of made anything better. I told everyone this but since Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold wore it on this day when they decided to shoot up their school I automatically want to shoot up my school and I worship them. Fun fact: I’ve always found trench coats cool and wore them as much as I could way before I knew anything about Columbine.
Eric goals was to join the Marines and even tried applying but sadly his application was rejected. The most likely reason was he was on the drug Luvox® (Fluvoxamine maleate) which is an antidepressant he had to take to help him cope with his anger. People think that Luvox’s side-effects were one of the causes of the massacre. Most antidepressants increase violent and/or suicidal thoughts. Friends of Eric reported that he had stopped taking the meds a bit before the massacre which could of made his thoughts even worse. Columbine helped shed light onto meds needing warnings.
Since Columbine, schools have made a decision to increase communication among students and staff about bullying and violence. Staff urged students to report any threats of safety concerns to a responsible adult so they can do something about the issue before it escalates. This measure has stopped many school attacks. Along with this schools have really tried to stop bullying. They are now enforcing zero-tolerance policy against bullying and threats. Regardless of the circumstances students will get in trouble for bullying other students. Many schools have also have a zero-tolerance for possession of drugs or weapons. Anyone, including staff and visitors, will be punished if found having possession of drugs or weapons. Although this is a good thing it has also lead the school to over react about things such as nail clippers or a dull knife to cut cake.
Since Columbine, schools have made a decision to increase communication among students and staff about bullying and violence. Staff urged students to report any threats of safety concerns to a responsible adult so they can do something about the issue before it escalates. This measure has stopped many school attacks. Along with this schools have really tried to stop bullying. They are now enforcing zero-tolerance policy against bullying and threats. Regardless of the circumstances students will get in trouble for bullying other students. Many schools have also have a zero-tolerance for possession of drugs or weapons. Anyone, including staff and visitors, will be punished if found having possession of drugs or weapons. Although this is a good thing it has also lead the school to over react about things such as nail clippers or a dull knife to cut cake.
Along with this we as a society have a larger fear of different people than before Columbine. If everyone in the band Creeper went to school in America in this day and age the school would never leave them alone due to their irrational fear of different people. Now if they went to school here before Columbine, they’d get the kids bullying them for being different but they’re kids are mean and have trouble adapting to different things but the school wouldn’t blink an eye. A lot of oddballs like me who enjoy the gothic style and have no desire to hurt anyone. People tend to have a fear of the unknown and the unfamiliar and to most people this style is unfamiliar and completely unknown to some people.
Columbine really affects us as a society. It’s truly hard to change but with work we can change. There are many things school can do to lessen the change of this happening again but it takes time. We don’t have to be afraid of anyone because of how they look. We still need that fear of an attack like this we just need to cope with it better.
Columbine really affects us as a society. It’s truly hard to change but with work we can change. There are many things school can do to lessen the change of this happening again but it takes time. We don’t have to be afraid of anyone because of how they look. We still need that fear of an attack like this we just need to cope with it better.
Work Cited
"9 Ways School Has Changed Since Columbine." Criminal Justice Degrees Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2017Shepard, C. "^^ Eric David Harris ^^." A Columbine Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2017.
"9 Ways School Has Changed Since Columbine." Criminal Justice Degrees Guide. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2017Shepard, C. "^^ Eric David Harris ^^." A Columbine Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 May 2017.
image credit
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Luvox.jpg
http://68.media.tumblr.com/d7ce486677010a60d092a94923d9e013/tumblr_o2ndal1Ys51ttp876o1_r1_1280.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Luvox.jpg
http://68.media.tumblr.com/d7ce486677010a60d092a94923d9e013/tumblr_o2ndal1Ys51ttp876o1_r1_1280.jpg