Discussions & Papers
Expanded topics list for class discussions, student papers, projects, etc.
- Schools
- School violence
- Impact on daily life: drills, safety plans, awareness, etc.
- Zero Tolerance: pros and cons
- Threat assessment
- Teen Depression
- Role in the Columbine attack (and in other attacks)
- Prevalence (6% of U.S. teens—2 million)
- Consequences
- Detection and prevention
- Treatment: options/efficacy
- The Killers
- Eric's motives
- Dylan's motives
- Evolution of each boy's intentions
- Suicide vs. homicide in each
- Eric's gradual criminal development (vandalism, petty theft, felony theft, murder)
- Role/responsibility of the parents
- Life after Columbine for the Harrises and Klebolds
- Warning signs
- How Eric fooled everyone
- Dylan's attempt to warn Brooks
- Victims and Survivors
- Heroes and role models
- Overcoming adversity
- Grieving and the healing process
- PTSD—differentiated from normal trauma
- Positive and negative responses among survivors
- Infighting within the community
- Lessons from survivors
- Battle for control of the tragedy ("Who owns the tragedy?")
- The power of symbols: e.g., "Take Back The School"
- Society
- Impact on the culture
- Copycats
- Fear among parents
- School Culture / Teen Culture
- Tolerance: has anything changed?
- Attitudes toward bullying (whether or not they turned out to be a role in the tragedy)
- Efforts to help outcast kids and loners
- Compassion vs. recognizing real danger
- Impact of the book on you
- Law Enforcement & Legal
- What has changed?
- Active Shooter Protocol
- Gun Control
- The Gun Show Loophole
- The detective team: Investigating crimes of this magnitude
- Media and Myths
- How did the press get it so wrong?
- Where did the myths come from?
- Implications for news consumers (reading critically)
- Tension between victims and journalists
- Compassionate reporting
- Infamy and glorification of killers
- Columbine as Literature
- Themes
- Characters
- Plot and tension
- Setting
- Tone
- Novelistic techniques ("nonfiction novel"?)