Okay, so it's 4/20, the day all of the stoners celebrate in great jubilation. It's also the 10th anniversary of the massacre at Columbine High School. I remember hearing about the terror that ensued on that day in 1999 very vividly. I was 15 and attending a high school of similar size and demographics to Columbine, living in a community roughly the size and of the same economic standing as Littleton, Colorado. What happened at Columbine saddened me greatly. I could almost feel the pain of the students even though I fortunately wasn't there. Back in high school I used to regularly type a journal of sorts. I had recounted my feelings on that day in the journal, but haven't been able to find my original entry from back then, otherwise I'd be sharing it in this blog. As news spread about the massacre and information was uncovered about the perpetrators I became even more saddened. The 2 students that committed the massacre were bullied and treated as outsiders during their time at school. I had first-hand experience with being bullied when I was in middle school. I was sad that the bullying and torment led them to commit something that awful... Fortunately for me, I had God and a strong family to fall back on during my hard times in school. These 2 guys didn't have that. It makes you take a hard look at how kids treat one another in school and how supportive and involved parents AND teachers should be.
Nearly 24-hours after the Columbine massacre, the atmosphere at my high school became incredibly tense. Anyone wearing dark clothing and perceived as a social outsider was monitored closely. Any mention of the word "gun" or "killing" could've landed you in the principal's office. A guy in one of my art classes was suspended after drawing a sketch of a comic book-like character carrying a shotgun. One of my films was banned from being shown in class because I had characters using toy guns in it. I recall there was a 9th grade student that drew a picture of a noose and a handgun in the boy's bathroom stall that said "MHS is next" below it.(MHS stands for Mahtomedi High School, where I went) Word of the picture spread around the student body and frightened a large number of us. A police officer was hired to patrol the school regularly. Eventually this 9th grader admitted to a fellow student that he made the drawing and was escorted from the school in handcuffs. I was in the front lawn of the school with my art class, drawing the school's exterior when I saw the kid being taken to the police car. The tension lasted for the remainder of the school year and didn't quite subside until the following year.
It's sad to think I sort of forgot about the Columbine massacre, especially after September 11, 2001. There are things that happen in this country sometimes that shake your entire soul. I cried on the night of April 20, 1999. I cried out of sadness for the students at Columbine and I prayed for their comfort. I also prayed that something like that would never happen again, especially at my school or the school of someone I loved. It was one of the first times I became enraged by the existence of the 2nd amendment. The Virginia Tech shootings a couple years ago made me even more speculative about the relevance and necessity for the "right to bear arms", but my views on gun control are a completely different story... I still hope and pray that school violence like what was committed at Columbine and Virginia Tech cease to happen. There was a time previous to 1999 when school shootings were unheard of. Why can't those times come again? A large part of preventative action can come from parents and teachers supporting kids and actually being pro-active about reducing bullying. I want my future children and grandchildren to be safe at school.
