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Innledning
In this presentation, I will be dealing with a problem that has escalated in recent years. It seems like school shootings are happening more frequently than ever. I wanted to get an understanding of why this violence happens, and why it’s getting more popular.
School shootings in the world
School shooting is a great tragedy, but a reality in our history. It happens way too often and innocent people, often students, are shot down for no reason. The tragedy is a nightmare for parents, students and teachers, and hurts people both physically and mentally. According to CNN news channel, most of the shootings happen in the United States. Since 2009 there have been at least 288 school shootings, with an average of once a week this year alone. That is 57 times as many shootings as the populous countries: Canada, Japan, France, Germany, and Italy combined. The 2nd place at the rate over school shootings is Mexico, with “only” 8 school shootings since 2009. Why is the school shooting rate in the USA this big? What are the differences between the USA and other countries?
School shooting in the US
School shooting is a reality in many school students life in the US. Way too many students are afraid of what will happen at school and it is a big problem. What makes people do these horrible acts are unclear and very varying. An often-used reason why the shooting has been completed is because of depression and suicidal thoughts. In a rating made by Alfred University, it turns out that bullying and revenge on others are among the top reasons why the school shooting has been done. Also, poor economy, violent video games, and gun-control have had a big effect on former school shooters. Gun control might be more relevant in the US compared to other countries. This is because of the USs kind gun-laws that make it legal for all Americans to own weapons.
Stoneman
On February 14, 2018, a young man named Nicholas Cruz got arrested after starting a school shooting at Stoneman Douglas high school in Florida, USA. The event took place early in the morning and demanded 17 lives, in addition to several wounded. Cruz`s horrible action is the deadliest high school shooting in the united states’ history, surpassing the Columbine high school massacre, from 1999, that killed 15 innocent lives.
Santa Fe
On May 18, 2018, a school shooting took place at Santa Fe high school, a school situated in Texas. The shooter, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, used a shotgun and a revolver that was legally owned by his father. With these weapons, the shooter killed 10 people - 8 students, and 2 teachers - and thirteen others were wounded. This has been rated as the 3rd deadliest high school shooting in the USA`s history and was the 22nd school shooting in the United States in 2018.
Before the two shooters
But who is actually Nicholas Cruz and Dimitrios Pagourtzis except for being two horrible school shooters?
Nicholas
The young man named Nicholas Cruz was, in 2018, a 19-year-old boy. As a kid, Cruz had many challenges. By the time he was 6, he got trauma of witnessing his father’s death. As a teenager, Cruz got expelled from two private schools, including that he dropped out of Stoneman Douglas high school just some months before the tragedy took place. By the time he was 16, he was really interested in war, death, and killing. His former classmates described him as a strange boy. He used to talk about his interests in guns, and that is why many of his classmates also described him as a scary student. At the end of the shooting, he had planned to commit suicide, but he did not have the courage to commit suicide.
Dimitrios
Dimitrios Pagourtzis was, in 2018, a 17-year old student at Santa Fe high school. He came from a strict family, where he barely had a social life. As a kid, Pagourtzis was really shy and silent. His classmates could describe him as a kind boy who never did anything wrong. That is why the whole school was in shock when the police told that the shooter was kind and shy Dimitrios Pagourtzis. A friend of Pagourtzis said that both of them had an interest in guns and violent video games, and his own mom told that her son would stay up all night playing video games. Just like Nicolas Cruz, Pagourtzis wanted to take his own life after the shooting, but he did not either have the courage to commit suicide.
What wan we compare?
There are many similarities between the two teenagers and their school shootings. Firstly, both of the tragedies happened early in 2018. The two shooters were male teenagers, who were fascinated by guns and had experienced bullying at school. Both of the boys had a complicated home situation and was struggling in the society. Another similarity that is rather unusual between the boys is that no one of them committed suicide at the end of the act, which has been done by several school shooters. Lastly, both of the shooters posted pictures of weapons on the internet.
My opinion
In my opinion, we have to take school shooting more seriously. Ther should be no reason to be afraid of being at school. To me, it looks like there is a reason why most school shootings happen in the US, and it is because of the country`s kind weapon law. The country has to be more strict about weapons, and about which people are allowed to be using it. To me, it should also be more strict rules in violent videogames. I men the age limit on violent videogames should be around 18. Dimitrios Pagourtzis loved playing violent videogames, and he might got affected by it to do the school shooting. We are becoming used to these tragedies, we have to switch direction. We have to make good desitions because young lives are at risk.
