Conflict Resolution 1: Columbine

By: The Sceptic | 01May1999

"The direct use of force is such a poor solution to any problem, it is generally employed only by small children and large nations." -- David Friedman A columbine is a work of art, an excellent gift from the gods. It will be years before most people will be able to refer to the state flower of Colorado without also thinking of the murder of youth. This inadvertent perversion of a word, that a month ago was synonymous with beauty, is one very minor tragedy among several. On April 19th, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris were driven over the edge of madness in both uses of that word. They released twelve students and a teacher from the cares of this world. Then they followed their victims to the other side. Since that day, there have been efforts from all quarters to find answers … to determine what happened and why. Prevalent theory is that if we had answers, such tragedies would be prevented in the future. Unfortunately, like rape victims victimized again in a courtroom, the event at Columbine High School has its own follow-up tragedy. The incident itself -- the intentional victimization of thirteen people and a school -- is being further perverted into substantiation of various agendas across the country. An adage I believe I first heard in the military comes to mind: "Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one." To the degree that there is truth in that statement, the events in Littleton are the laxative of public opinions of every color. Those who know enough about the events leading up to that day have a right to an opinion. Unfortunately, their voices have mingled with the voices of those who will use any excuse -- any tragedy -- to prove some point or another. The human brain is a marvelous mechanism, rivaling the can opener and kitchen colander. Expose it to damn near any stimulus and it is capable of justifying its own preconceived notions. I have taken mental notes on these lumps of verbal excretion that I've scanned in opinion pieces in the media and conversations I've heard. Some of these opinions may even be somewhat true, regardless of whether they have anything to do with the tragedy in Colorado. Since the same sets of neo-aphorisms are trotted out at every available opportunity, it would seem that they would eventually be crushed under the burden of their own meaningless misemployment. (Un)fortunately that is not how the brain works. We perceive shapes in clouds and portents in tealeaves. The concept of meaninglessness is unbearable -- even if our world eventually proves to be altogether random, disordered, without answers. A few of the following statements may be based on inaccuracies. Others seem obvious. Many contradict at least one other on the list. Parents should pay more attention to what their children are doing in the garage with steel pipe, nails and detonators. Law enforcement should investigate if they get complaints about boys building and testing pipe bombs. School administrators should notice when a group of students refer to themselves as any kind of Mafia. Guns are too accessible. We need more gun control laws. Gun laws already in place were broken. More laws are not going to stop someone from breaking laws -- especially if they are on a suicide mission. If teachers had been carrying a few concealed weapons to defend themselves and their students, this wouldn't have happened. Gun control laws endanger the public. There is too much violence on television. We need more V-chips. There is too much hate and violence in the music. We should have listened to Tipper Gore. There is too much hate and violence on the Internet. Children shouldn't be allowed access. You shouldn't be able to buy guns via the Internet. There is too much violence in computer video games. Outlaw Doom. Keanu Reeves wore a black trench coat and killed people in The Matrix. There's too much violence in the movies. The killers sneaked their weapons in under their trench coats. If students had a stricter dress code or had to wear uniforms, this never would have happened. The killers were unconventional and they were treated cruelly because of it. See what happens when a kid becomes an outcast and weirdo just because he doesn't shop at The Gap like his peers? They were faggots. See what happens to people engaged in such an unwholesome lifestyle? They were gay. See what happens to people when they are taunted for their lifestyle? No, wait! One of them had a girlfriend so they must have been bisexual. See what sickos are capable of doing? The killers hated jocks. This is what happens to a person who doesn't support the great American tradition of student athletics. They were harassed by jocks. A school that put so much emphasis into athletics that jocks could get away with anything should have expected something like this. One of killers was on antidepressants. See what happens when kids are put on antidepressants. One of them had been on antidepressants. See what happens when you don't take your prescription medicine. See what alienated kids are capable of doing? They ran around in a group and dressed the same as each other. See what happens if gang activity is allowed in a school? We need more cops in schools. If the school doesn't have enough sense enough to secure the building, install metal detectors on the doors, lock everything down and treat those teenaged bastards like the savages they are, they are just asking for trouble! Screw the U.S. constitution; we should prosecute parents for the crimes their children commit. (Regardless of what a person does, it isn't their fault. Make somebody else responsible.) See what happens when the National Rifle Association schedules a convention in the area? What might have happened if they had taken cell phones out of that school? See what happens when you take prayer out of the public schools? Like you, I have opinions on the shooting too. However, I don't much care to take part in this irresponsible exploitation of a tragedy and express those opinions… "We do know that we must do more to reach out to our children and teach them to express their anger and to resolve their conflicts with words, not weapons." -- U.S. President Bill Clinton, 20April1999 …except to say that -- given our participation in NATO's inhumane air war with Yugoslavia -- I sincerely doubt that government could teach us a fucking thing about conflict resolution that Klebold and Harris didn't discover for themselves.

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