An Analysis of Bullying Ramifications on School Shootings

An Analysis of Bullying Ramifications on School Shootings

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Bullying and School Shootings

1. Introduction

1. Strong Opening

1,895 students from eleven Los Angeles middle schools underwent a study led by Jaana Juvonen (Wolpert, 2013).  The study, citing bullying, indicated that about 20 percent of U.S students experienced bullying in their schools. Approximately 30 percent of these students admitted to bulling, and 70 percent had seen bullying occurring in their schools.

American Psychological Study states that bullying is a form of aggression where someone intentionally hurts another person that has trouble defending him or herself.  Bullying leaves a person with a victim mentality, and under the worst circumstances, it leaves a yearning to take

Taking a look at school shooting statistics, there have been 387 school shootings since 1992 (Everytown, 2015). Andrew Wurst, a Pennsylvania shooter, shot one teacher in a high school dance and injured several others (Everytown, 2015). He had a history of being bullied and exhibiting violent behavior and this pattern has been is dominant among most shooters since 2013, leading to 174 school shootings (Everytown, 2015).

1. Thesis Statement

Some scholars argue that most people that are bullied do not end up as mass killers, and that bullying is not a major cause of their unexplained behavior (Bentley, 2012). Bullying however, does take a psychological toll on the victims. It leads to depression and suicidal thoughts, which may escalate to the need for revenge and paranoia to achieve it. This leads to psychotic behavior, that explains the premeditated murder and total lack of empathy since the shooters harbored contempt for so long.

1. Body Paragraph #1-Topic Sentence #1

School shootings are usually premeditated, and are meant to cause harm to a targeted group of people mainly at a larger scale as a form of revenge or righteous absolution.

1. Supporting Evidence

There are typically known three categories of shooters. There are the psychopathic shooters (Eric Harris, Columbine; Andrew golden), that feel no connection with their victims (Langman, 2010). There are the psychotic shooters (Dylan Klebold, Columbine; Kip Springfield, Oregon; Edinboro, Pennsylvania) (Bentley, 2012). The last class of shooters includes traumatized shooters that have suffered abuse (Rocque, 2012).

1. Explanation

School shooting cases intertwine heavily with bullying and gun ownership. When a psychotic teen needs to get revenge, the easiest weapon that they have access to that claims the most victims is a gun. There has been a debated argument over gun ownership, and a tassel between anti-bullying laws and violation of the first amendment rights.

1. So what?

Schools need to be proactive in recognizing depressed kids in schools, and offer proper counselling. Policies like searches and metal detectors also need to be implemented within the law in schools to avoid any interaction with guns and any material that can cause bodily harm.

1. Body Paragraph #2- Topic Sentence #2

The Supreme Court fully backs the gun law, that gives people the right to keep and bear arms, whether unlocked or unloaded and as well fails to distinguish between bullying and exercising the first amendment rights.

1. Supporting Evidence

This was demonstrated clearly in Heller v. District of Columbia case (Grainger, 2015), where the appeal invalidated the appealed ban on handguns. This opinion was reciprocated in McDonald v. Chicago and Marbury v. Madison (Grainger, 2015).

1. Explanation

The current gun laws mean that anyone, regardless of their age or condition, has the right to own a gun on condition that it is licensed. They owner as well, have the right to carry it wherever they wish, whether loaded or not. This would put these weapons right in the hands of disturbed teenager who have inadequate judgement, leading to school shootings

1. So what?

The Supreme Court needs to set precedence on gun policy and how to handle arms. It needs to tackle the issue of gun rights beyond the house, gun rights for young adults and proper safe-keeping of the guns. It needs to stop battering modest efforts made to reduce the number of school shootings in the country.

1. Conclusion

1. Rephrased Thesis Statement

With the school shootings on the rise, the Supreme Court is still lagging when it comes to setting precedence. The only policies that are implemented in schools to cease violence and bullying include hiring School Resources Officers, using metal detectos and using ‘Zero-tolerance’ policies when it comes to violence. The future seems bleak as the laws, in my opinion, need to be re-written, narrowed down and records set straight when it comes to gun policies. By negating the main weapon used in shootings, and reducing the pressure to commit these shootings, the Supreme Court can easily be a force to reckon with when in comes to School Shootings.