The Columbine School shootings back in 1999 was my first taste of unimaginable, school based violence. Maybe it was for the world as well, a bit of an eye opener. For myself, a young student in Australia - it was purely unthinkable. Like something out of a movie. I vividly remember watching the Michael Moore documentary "Bowling for Columbine" with my classmates, while the world around me seemed to be trying to rationalise this event by blaming everything they could and yet not reaching the root cause.
So, there we all were in this class.
Sitting in a small room on uncomfortable chairs, gazing raptly at the clunky TV set.
All the while thinking... How did this happen?
And as we all know.. things in America regarding educational facilities and weaponry did not improve and still continue to decline as despite extra measures, these kinds of incidents become more and more frequent. I don't know if Columbine was the first major school shooting but it definitely captured everyone's attention and perhaps even became a trendsetter or pioneer for people to enact their violent dreams on fellow students and teachers, or even just to 'copycat' the heinous thing.
I'm talking about this today because I read this article and it royally ticked me off. Not anything the authors Julie Turkewitz or Jack Healy wrote, but the subject matter itself.
An 18 year old woman named Sol Pais purchased a plane ticket in Florida, and flew across the country to Colorado where she then purchased a gun almost immediately. This is concerning by itself but gets worse when we find out she was obsessed with the Colombine shootings and had spent the time leading up to her trip making strange social media posts and threatening statements to people she knew. Online discussions with gun enthusiasts about wanting to buy a gun on an upcoming trip.
Some news sources have said that she made vague threats as well, but it's unclear if these were actually made or just an elaboration of things found in her diary.
People in her class described her as quiet and smart, but people reading her online journals got a picture of someone different, someone who drew weapons, a portrait of one of the Colombine shooters, noted desires to have a gun and posts that showed her in an increasing state of despair and loneliness. Her worried family wondering where she was, begging for her to come home.
So a manhunt was issued, several schools shut down for fear of student safety so instead of preparing for the 20th anniversary memorials, nearly half a million students were kept home because 20 or more schools were closed down. She was a valid threat and every precaution was being made.
As it turns out, she seems to have committed suicide in the mountains - but the story doesn't end with her death. Why would she go that far just to kill herself? Was it just that she wanted to be near
Colombine? Did she actually plan on killing people at a school? How much of this was actually what she wanted? Was re-traumatising survivors and family members of both survivors and the slain part of her scheme?
Some people have criticised the fact that one apparently mentally ill woman had the capacity to almost shut down the entire Denver area - but to me this seems to overlook a few vital points. Namely, it's a proactive response to a slight heads up about a threat - one that many disasters rarely have. Also, I'm sure people would rather have a kid out of school on a precaution than a child killed in a needless shooting. Which is my next point... this should never happen.
Kids should never be at risk of death just for going to school. This only happens in places that first world countries like the US generally think they're better than. Only problem it's the same thing, just different reasons for doing it.
There is a reason gun control is popular in countries like mine. It's because we had one horrible shooting incident and said no, we don't want this. Yes, guns are still present and gun crimes still happen here, but at a severely reduced rate. Even my life came close to being touched by gun violence - while working in a shopping centre, a man entered with a gun in an attempt to hurt his wife and children but he was stopped before anything happened. It is an extremely sobering thought that something terrible could have happened that day, and I cannot imagine the stress and fear that the average American school aged kid has to be put through constantly.
So, there we all were in this class.
Sitting in a small room on uncomfortable chairs, gazing raptly at the clunky TV set.
All the while thinking... How did this happen?
And as we all know.. things in America regarding educational facilities and weaponry did not improve and still continue to decline as despite extra measures, these kinds of incidents become more and more frequent. I don't know if Columbine was the first major school shooting but it definitely captured everyone's attention and perhaps even became a trendsetter or pioneer for people to enact their violent dreams on fellow students and teachers, or even just to 'copycat' the heinous thing.
I'm talking about this today because I read this article and it royally ticked me off. Not anything the authors Julie Turkewitz or Jack Healy wrote, but the subject matter itself.
An 18 year old woman named Sol Pais purchased a plane ticket in Florida, and flew across the country to Colorado where she then purchased a gun almost immediately. This is concerning by itself but gets worse when we find out she was obsessed with the Colombine shootings and had spent the time leading up to her trip making strange social media posts and threatening statements to people she knew. Online discussions with gun enthusiasts about wanting to buy a gun on an upcoming trip.
Some news sources have said that she made vague threats as well, but it's unclear if these were actually made or just an elaboration of things found in her diary.
People in her class described her as quiet and smart, but people reading her online journals got a picture of someone different, someone who drew weapons, a portrait of one of the Colombine shooters, noted desires to have a gun and posts that showed her in an increasing state of despair and loneliness. Her worried family wondering where she was, begging for her to come home.
So a manhunt was issued, several schools shut down for fear of student safety so instead of preparing for the 20th anniversary memorials, nearly half a million students were kept home because 20 or more schools were closed down. She was a valid threat and every precaution was being made.
As it turns out, she seems to have committed suicide in the mountains - but the story doesn't end with her death. Why would she go that far just to kill herself? Was it just that she wanted to be near
Colombine? Did she actually plan on killing people at a school? How much of this was actually what she wanted? Was re-traumatising survivors and family members of both survivors and the slain part of her scheme?
Some people have criticised the fact that one apparently mentally ill woman had the capacity to almost shut down the entire Denver area - but to me this seems to overlook a few vital points. Namely, it's a proactive response to a slight heads up about a threat - one that many disasters rarely have. Also, I'm sure people would rather have a kid out of school on a precaution than a child killed in a needless shooting. Which is my next point... this should never happen.
Kids should never be at risk of death just for going to school. This only happens in places that first world countries like the US generally think they're better than. Only problem it's the same thing, just different reasons for doing it.
There is a reason gun control is popular in countries like mine. It's because we had one horrible shooting incident and said no, we don't want this. Yes, guns are still present and gun crimes still happen here, but at a severely reduced rate. Even my life came close to being touched by gun violence - while working in a shopping centre, a man entered with a gun in an attempt to hurt his wife and children but he was stopped before anything happened. It is an extremely sobering thought that something terrible could have happened that day, and I cannot imagine the stress and fear that the average American school aged kid has to be put through constantly.
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