Research Essay Workshop

Background

In November 2012, "Sandy Hook" had 456 students from the preparatory group to the fourth class. According to the representatives of the school, they have recently installed intercom systems with video camera at school. Newtown is known as a quiet provincial town, with a population of less than 28 thousand inhabitants. The crime rate is very low, in the last ten years before the accident only one murder was reported in this town.

Event what happened

At some time prior to 9:30 am on Friday, December 14, 2012, Adam Lanza shot his mother, Nancy Lanza. Later, she was found dead in her bed with four bullet wounds in the head. Adam Lanza then sat in his mother's car and drove to the "Sandy Hook" elementary school. He apparently stole a number of her guns and drove to the school, which he attended as a child” (“Connecticut shooting” par. 6). Approximately at 9:35 in the morning, using a semi-automatic rifle, the Bushmaster, Lanza shot a locked glass door, the main entrance of the school. “Police say this was the main weapon used during the shooting, though Lanza was also carrying two handguns loaded with high-capacity magazines” (“Connecticut shooting” par. 10). He was wearing a black military-style uniform and a tactical gear-body armor. Witnesses later pointed out that the initial shots were heard through the school system of a radio warning. In fact, “visitors to the school have to be "buzzed in" by a member of staff” (“Connecticut shooting” par. 12).

Headmaster Dawn Hochsprung and staff psychologist Mary Sherlach conducted a meeting with the employees of the school and heard the outside shots. Hochsprung and Sherlach ran out of the room to the sounds and found Lanza. Both women were killed trying to stop a criminal. Perhaps Hochsprung could switch on a school radio warning system, as a nine-year high school student, who was in the gym, later said that he had heard through the speaker, as the shooter shouted "Raise your hands!" And someone said, "Do not shoot!” The teacher and children who were in the gym hid in the back room. Diane Day, the school doctor, said that she heard the screams, and then multiple gunshots. Teacher Natalie Hammond decided to “close” the door with her body and was wounded in her arm and leg by shots through the door.

Lauren Rousseau was shot in the face. All the pupils of her class were also shot, but a six-year old girl miraculously survived. She said that she pretended to be dead and did not move until the noise died down at school. Events in other classroom are not completely clear. Survivors said that their teacher - Victoria Soto - tried to hide students in wardrobes and bedside tables. When Lanza entered the room, Soto said that the students were in the hall. Some children tried to jump out of the shelters and run out of the class, but were killed by a criminal. Soto rushed to protect students and was shot. Six surviving students subsequently got out of cabinets, ran out of the school and hid in a nearby house. According to the parents of six-year boy, they were able to run out of the class after the offender had shot their teacher.

School nurse Sarah Cox, who hid under a desk, described that Lanza went into her office, was six meters away from her, then turned and left. As a result, Sarah Cox and Secretary Barbara Halstead called 911 and asked for help and then hid in a closet with medication for four hours.

Teacher Kaitlin Roig hid his fourteen pupils in the toilet and asked them to be quiet, and barricaded the door. Librarians Sec Yvonne Cech and Maryann Jacob hid eighteen children in the back room and barricaded the door of the cabinet.

Music teacher Maryrose Kristopik barricaded with fourth-graders in a small back room. Teacher Abbey Clements saved the lives of two third-graders, hiding them in the class. At the time of the attack they were walking down the hallway, carrying a list of students in the school office. Teacher Laura Feinstein saved two of his pupils, hiding them under a desk for forty minutes until help arrived. Later “young students described being ushered into bathrooms and closets by teachers as the first shots rang out” (Candiotti and Aarthun par. 7).

Lanza stopped shooting between 9:46 and 9:53 in the morning, firing from 50 to 100 bullets. At least one of the students - for example - Noah Posner was killed by 11 bullets.

The offender has made most of the shots in two classrooms of first graders, near the main entrance, shot fourteen children in the same class and six in the other. The victims were eight boys and twelve girls aged six to seven years and six women, school staff. Lanza committed suicide by shooting himself in the head at the sound of approaching police.

According to Candiotti and Aarthun, “Three weapons were recovered from the school: a semi-automatic .223 Bushmaster rifle, a Glock and a Sig Sauer, a law enforcement official familiar with the investigation said. The weapons were legally purchased by Lanza's mother, the official said. A fourth weapon, a shotgun, was recovered from a car in the school parking lot” (par. 18).

Aftermath

On December 18, 2012 the company “Cerberus Capital Management” announced its intention to sell its controlled group “Freedom Group”, producing small arms, including rifles known as Bushmaster AR-15, which was used by the shooter in school. US gun stores noted that after the massacre, the demand for this type of rifle has increased significantly due to fear of new laws drive gun sales. US National Rifle Association, which represents the interests of supporters of free circulation of small arms, has proposed the introduction of the institute of armed guards in American schools, but President Obama was actually very skeptical about the proposal.

Comparison to other similar events

Columbine High School massacre is a prepared attack of two high school students Eric Harris and Dylan Bennet Klebold to other students and school staff with small arms and improvised explosive devices, which occurred on April 20, 1999. The attackers wounded 37 people, 13 of them were dead. After that, assailants shot and killed themselves.

The tragedy has received a considerable attention in the United States and caused a heated debate about the need for stricter gun control. As a result, “many schools across America enacted “zero tolerance” rules regarding disruptive behavior and threats of violence from students” (A+E Networks Corp. par. 7). There were also questions about the school group conflicts, youth subcultures and the influence of movies and video games that promote violence in the community at the center of discussion. The incident led to the fact that the legal authorizes decided to tighten security in schools and strengthen control over the access of children to the Internet and violent video games.

Different Opinions

Various social organizations have tried to blame everything that surrounded the participants of mass murder. The most famous "culprits" are as follows: the video game “Doom” (Jack Thompson accused the creators of the video game, based on the fact that many drawings based on the Doom games has been found in the diaries of students). As A+E Networks Corporation states “violent video games and music were blamed for influencing the killers” (par. 5). In fact, people, especially kids are likely to be influenced by violent video games. Rock band Rammstein and Marilyn Manson. Actually the offenders often listened to their CDs. A few months after the tragedy, Marilyn Manson published response to his criticism of journalists in one of the music magazines. It provided a philosophical essay entitled: “Columbine: who is to blame?”.

Psychotropic drugs (antidepressants). Shortly after the incident it became known that one of the killers, Eric Harris, took antidepressants (fluvoxamine, Luvox). During the post-mortem analysis, taken from Eric Harris, Luvox at therapeutic levels was found in his blood. Previously, Harris also took other prescribed antidepressants (Zoloft). During the trial, psychiatrist Peter Breggin, acting as a medical expert, claimed that one or both of the drug could cause actions committed by Harris because became he obsessed with homicidal and suicidal thoughts within weeks of starting on the antidepressant Zoloft (Psychiatrist par. 4), and that the side effects of these drugs include increased aggression, lack of remorse and regret, depersonalization and mania.

Why&How it happened

It is possible to trace the situation that individuals commit a large number of crimes of inhuman nature that scare their brutality and sophistication. Most of the murders and acts of violence committed by people in a state known the phase boundary between normality and psychopathology.

People with psychopathological disorders of congenital or acquired nature are most likely to commit murders. Crimes can be committed in modified states of conscious, such as delirium, hallucinations.

According to psychological studies, a serial killer’s personality is formed in childhood. Children are prone to behave aggressively can escape from their house. Let’s consider the basic alarming symptoms, which may indicate the possibility of the development of pathological inclination to aggressive actions:

1. cruelty to animals (murder, dismemberment);

2. arson;

3. escaping from the house;

4. theft;

5. early sexual interest, sexual deviations;

6. enuresis;

7. meteolability;

8. paranoid schizophrenia and extreme sexual fetises (Brogaard, par. 8).

The causes of aggression in children can be very different. The emergence of aggressive qualities contributes to some medical disorders or diseases of the brain. Family education with the first days of a child’s life plays an enormous role when it comes to aggressive behavior.

As Ramirez mentions “we are not slaves to our genes, nor slaves to our environment. Neglecting psychosocial factors in the causes of aggressive behavior would be as misleading as to focus on the individual’s biology without recognizing its inevitable interaction with other factors, such as cognition, emotion, or social context (622).

Almost in every collective there is one particular child with signs of aggressive behavior. He attacks the other, intentionally uses derogatory language, i.e., he becomes a "storm" of the whole team. This pugnacious, rough child is difficult to accept the way he is, and even more difficult to understand.

However, an aggressive child, like any other, needs the affection and help from an adult, because his aggression is primarily a reflection of internal discomfort, inability to respond adequately to the events occurring around him.

The aggressive child often feels outcast, useless. Brutality and indifference of parents leads to disruption of the parent-child relationship and inspires the soul of the child's confidence that nobody likes him. "How to be loved and needed" is an unsolvable problem facing the child. So he is looking for ways to attract the attention of adults and peers. Unfortunately, these searches do not always end the way he would like, but how to do better - he does not know.

Before proceeding directly to the solution of such problems as aggression in your child, you must have an idea of ​​what could be the reasons for aggression in children. Most often, they are: 1) organic disease, which can lead to the disruption of the brain and mind (meningitis, encephalitis); 2) problems in relationships within the family. Usually, this is a quarrel between a father and a mother, who may be in the indifference and lack of common interests; 3) the indifference to the interests, pursuits and the achievement of the child with the father and mother or an excessive attachment to one of the parents. At the same time, in the case of conflict between them, the other parent to the child serves as the object of aggression; 4) the lack of continuity in the child's upbringing, a contradiction in the education of the father and mother's side; 5) low self-esteem; 6) failure to self-assess and monitor one’s actions and deeds; 7) poor intellectual development; 8) increased excitability of the child; 9) inability to build a relationship in society, and, as a consequence, frequent dissatisfaction and conflict; 10) regular monitoring by aggression. An example may be violent computer games, movies with scenes of violence, the obsession with them at an early age; and 11) life-course-persistent antisocial behavior (Raaijmakers 9).

The child can reveal his aggression in a variety of actions aimed at others. The first signs of aggression could be: 1) taking away toys from their peers, 2) verbal insults at them, and 3) the desire to hit someone with no apparent reason. Aggressive children often become a cause of fights between peers. Usually they are "prickly", it is difficult to make contact and communicate with them. Aggression can manifest itself in other examples, for instance, develop a child’s vindictiveness, sharp cracks of compliance and fulfillment of promises, reluctance to admit their mistakes, spitting, tendencies to pugnacity, etc.

Advice to parents on the removal and prevention of aggressive behavior in children: 1. First of all, examine one’s own behavior and style of relationships between family members. The children copy the behavior of their parents. 2. Avoid viewing aggressive imported cartoons, and the older horror films or thrillers, with the exception of children's cartoons with "benign" aggression, which are taught how to stand up for themselves. 3. Spend more time with your child. This allows him or her to feel that he or she is the most important and beloved person in the world. The feeling of self-worth and value forms a healthy nervous system, self-esteem and friendly mood.

Parents should devote at least 15-20 minutes a day to their child, forgetting about their "adult" business.

It is also necessary to create a friendly atmosphere, spending time just the way your child wants. 4. Do not abuse the comments. Instead of saying what not to do, say, how to do it. 5. Do not keep talking about the aggressiveness of the child in front of others people and even more so with the peers. This will only enhance the child's focus on this feature of his character, and give a sense of hopelessness. Let it will be the quality of your work together. This will give your child a feeling of confidence, security, emotional intimacy and trust you. 6. Suppress aggression on the part of their child, and from the other children aimed at your baby. 7. Teach the child ways to express anger in an acceptable form: express your thoughts in a friendly manner. 8. Do not use force. Applying for the child corporal punishment, you agree to allow him to beat the other.

9. Do not lose your temper. If every time the child begins to fight, you get out of balance, he soon realizes that it is possible to get your attention with the help of aggressive behavior. 10. Do not touch the child at the time, when you are angry at him. In such situations, it is better go to another room. There you will be able to get rid of anger in ways that then you will not be sorry.

If these recommendations were still insufficient to address the problem of aggressive behavior in your child, you can ask the person who will help you identify the causes of such behavior and teach your baby to recognize his feelings and emotions, express anger in acceptable, non-destructive ways and begin to learn to control it. If we bear in mind that it is very essential to take all the possible efforts to deal with this particular issue, then it will be easier to cope with his aggression, to keep one’s negative emotions in order to understand your child and help him.

Remaining question

In conclusion, it is important to remember the following: aggression is not only a destructive behavior that causes harm to others, resulting in destructive and negative effects, but also it is a huge force that can serve as a source of energy for more constructive purposes. And the task of parents is to teach the child to control his aggression and use it only for peaceful purposes. However, the question about monitoring and taking the necessary measures for the prevention of aggressive behavior remains open. Paying attention to the above-mentioned examples of aggressive behavior, which subsequently led to fatal consequences, it may be noted that proper education is very important to a child.

Works cited

A+E Networks Corporation. Columbine High School Shootings. N.d., http://www.history.com/topics/columbine-high-school-shootings#.

Brogaard, Berit. The Making of a Serial Killer. Psychologytoday, 07 Dec. 2012, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-superhuman-mind/201212/the-making-serial-killer.

Candiotti, Susan, and Sarah Aarthun. Police: 20 children among 26 victims of Connecticut school shooting. CNN, 15 Dec. 2012, http://edition.cnn.com/2012/12/14/us/connecticut-school-shooting/.

Connecticut shooting: How it happened. 18 Dec. 2012, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-20738998.

Ferguson, Christopher, and Olson, Cheryl. Video Game Violence Use Among ‘‘Vulnerable’’ Populations: The Impact of Violent Games on Delinquency and Bullying Among Children with Clinically Elevated Depression or Attention Deficit Symptoms. 1st ed. [ebook] New York: Springer Science+Business Media, 2013. http://www.csus.edu/faculty/m/fred.molitor/docs/video%20games%20and%20bullying.pdf.

Psychiatrist: Columbine and Aurora Theater Shooters Were Driven By Psychiatric Drugs. 17 Oct. 2016, http://psychiatricfraud.org/tag/eric-harris/#.

Raaijmakers, Maartje. Aggressive Behavior in Preschool Children. PrintPartners Ipskamp, Enschede, the Netherlands, 2008.

Ramirez, Martin. Hormones and aggression in childhood and adolescence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 8, 2003.

Sherry, John. The Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression. West Lafayette: International Communication Association, 2001.

Wilson, E. On Human Nature. Harvard, 1978.