Columbine Anniversary: 10 Years Later

on April 20, 2009 at 10:09 AM

high school

When you really think about it, high school life can be described as "Before Columbine" and "After Columbine." On April 20, 1999, when Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris charged Colorado's Columbine High School murdering 12 students and a teacher in cold blood--and then themselves--everything in America changed.

The Huffington Post writes that, "The first officers on the scene had never trained for what they found at Columbine High School: No hostages. No demands. Just killing."

MTV.com explained that "for an entire generation, April 20 is synonymous with one of the worst school shootings in U.S. history."

The power of Columbine was such that school and workplace shootings have actually escalated, but the pure shock of the event which happened 10 years ago and first ended the age of (relative) high school innocence can't be matched. Just as those of us who were high schoolers BC (Before Columbine) never even thought about the possibility of being shot at school, anyone who attended high school after AC, ultimately learned to live with the random possibility. After Columbine, it was clear that we had become a different nation.

Moms all over CM are buzzing about this tragic anniversary. stvmen88 says in the "G" Rated Moms in an "R" Rated World group, "What a horrible tragedy it was, and it's still sad to think about. Hard to believe 10 years have already passed. I can remember exactly what I was doing when I heard about it. I was working for AC Nielsen market research,and I was in a store I'd done an inventory on, sitting in their deli, working on their invoices, when I heard it on the news. I would like to say that 10 years later the schools are safer, but unfortunately, I think the opposite is true."

What do you think? Now that many high schools have metal detectors and increased security, are they any safer than 10 years ago? Were you a high schooler before or after Columbine?

Filed Under: college, high school, safety

Comments (8)

Mama2onelilboy

on Apr 20, 2009 at 11:16 AM

i agree in thinking there not much safer, my old high school had many threats, and all it would cause is a few drills.

I remember one year someone set of firecrackers in the middle of the lunch area its sad to say that everyone fell to the floor and started screaming.

I live in a middle/upper class predominately white neighborhood too

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Dreaming87

on Apr 20, 2009 at 11:49 AM

I read somewhere that the shootings were caused by Antidepressants. Look it up. I also wonder with Lyme disease being epidemic if that may have played a part in the shooting. Many lyme patients are misdiagnosed depression. Chronic Lyme Disease can manifest itself as Neurosphyciatric disorders. Read about Lyme Rage.

PoisonousBlonde

on Apr 20, 2009 at 12:25 PM

The school I went to is safer now. It used to be anyone could walk in the school and not be seen. Now all doors are locked, except for the door by the office. Everyone who comes in has to sign in. There is a lady who sits by the door and tells all visitors to go sign in.

I was in 11th grade when it happened. I stayed home that day playing hooky. I turned on the TV that morning and it was all over the news. I was stunned and horrified.

After that happened there was a few threats made to the school. These 2 girls made a death list and how they planned on killing a bunch of students. They were arrested.

I am glad the school is safer now, my 8 year old daughter goes to school there now.

mommy112005

on Apr 20, 2009 at 6:25 PM

Honestly, In the school I teach at they have metal detectors and everything but they dont check everyone that beeps. They just ask what the kids have and they say keys cell phone blah blah. Well there were actually a few times when kids had knives with them and they said they just had phones or whatever. So in response to your question, No I don't think all of the high schools are safer than they were 10 years ago.

justanotherjen

on Apr 20, 2009 at 11:52 PM

I don't know. I graduated high school in 95. My best friend was a senior when the shooting happened. But growing up in Chicago...most of the public high schools around here already had metal detectors and armed guards patrolling the school before Columbine. Just a matter of living in the city.

I didn't go to public schools, though. I went to an all girls Catholic School and I doubt they have metal detectors even now. I used to take the city bus home and one of our stops was a public school and they had cops everwhere when the school got out just to keep order as kids waited to get on the buses.

I don't think we've had any mass killings at any public schools here but we've already had 32 public school kids murdered this year (outside of school but still). Maybe school is safer in the suburbs. I live in the city so it's a fact of life. The high school my kids would go to if we are still living here requires all the kids to carry the same clear book bags so they can be easily searched as they enter the school...through the metal detectors. This school is a block and a half from my kids' elementary school.

So, from my perspective, school isn't any more or less dangerous then before 1999.

mmmommy0207

on Apr 21, 2009 at 12:02 PM

I was 14 when Columbine happened. It made me very paranoid of people my age. Before Columbine, I thought that all the other kids were like me. There were different classes of kids, but I figured we were all about the same. I had no idea that people my age could be capable of something like this.

Today, I don't think that schools are much safer at all. In fact, I think it's just the opposite. Kids these days scare the crap out of me, especially in big cities. We're moving to a smaller town just for the schools.

Dawn2395

on Apr 21, 2009 at 7:23 PM

What scares me these days, is that kids just have too much information. I went to high school in the 70's, we never even thought of things like that back then. The worst that would happen in my school was one of the girls getting pregnant, today, that's practically an every day occurance! AND, with ALL of the info out there, why are'nt these girls on birth control? But, that's a different issue!