REVIEW: Columbine

Columbine
Author: Dave Cullen

I remember watching the news back in April, 1999 when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold shot and killed 13 people and wounded more than 20 more at Columbine High School in Colorado. I was a single parent of an 8-year old at the time, and the incident terrified me. I couldn't fathom why two teens would bring bombs and guns to school. I couldn't imagine how terrifying it must have been for the kids and faculty trapped in the school or how the victims' families could ever deal with the losses and aftermath of the incident. With the issue of school shootings and gun control becoming more heated over the years, I decided it was time to do some reading and learn more information about the incidents, perpetrators and victims as I try become more informed. As a mother, the subject is a very emotional one for me. I'm going to take my time to research and learn at a pace that doesn't traumatize me. One book at a time....then a break.....and another, until I feel confident that I'm forming opinions based on facts and not emotional response. I started my research with Columbine because it's the first school shooting I vividly remember following on the news. 

I have to admit that over the years I have formed harsh opinions about the parents of school shooters, their home environment, and what I assumed must be lax discipline......and a bad opinion of school faculty and other adults that must have missed warning signs before these mass shootings. Not to mention fellow students who must have bullied and abused these kids until they broke badly enough to want to kill their peers. I formed these opinions based on emotion because I never bothered to research the learn the facts. I am trying to teach my 13 year old to always fact check things he reads on the internet or sees on television before forming opinions on people, events, etc.....but I am guilty of not following that advice myself.

Columbine recounts not only the shootings but the years leading up to the incident and its aftermath. Dave Cullen spent more than 10 years going over police records, journals and other writings left by the two shooters, survivors and family accounts and media reports. In the years following the shooting, it has been revealed that many media reports were exaggerated or completely false. Cullen points out several things reported as fact that didn't happen, exploitation of the event by media and various organizations, and the community and victims' wishes to just be able to heal and get on with their lives. Media hounded the community and opened old wounds constantly for years following the shootings.

I found the facts interesting and incredibly disturbing. Most of what I thought about the Columbine murders was based on bad information. I wanted someone to blame. Surely the fault couldn't lie with two teenaged boys.  But, in the end, the blame belongs to the two boys who pulled the trigger.  They killed 13 people and wounded 20+ more because THEY WANTED TO DO IT.  Their plan was much bigger....blow up the school, kill a majority of the students and faculty, and escape and continue killing until they themselves were killed or committed suicide. And they lied, conned and tricked their way through life -- fooling everyone around them -- while writing about their secrets and beliefs in journals. Are there other contributing factors? Sure. They were able to buy high powered guns at a gun show without completing any background checks. That was legal back then. They made comments to fellow students about hating people, wanting to kill, making bombs, etc....but none of their peers took them seriously. Their parents were concerned about their behavior and tried to discipline them. But the boys lied and conned their way through life, pretending to learn from mistakes....then bragging their journals about how they had their parents, teachers and law enforcement fooled. They spent more than a year planning to kill as many people at the school as possible. They would blow up the building with bombs....then pick off survivors as they tried to exit the building. They wanted to kill more people than died in the Oklahoma City bombing. They didn't target athletes, bullies, students of color or Christians -- they just wanted to kill everyone. I paused the audio book multiple times and looked up these two boys journal writings to read for myself. It's horrifying. They were two deeply disturbed individuals.

I'm not sure how this might effect my opinions about gun control or prevention of mass shootings at schools. I have to do more reading and take time to think before I reform any opinions or stand firm. But I do know that I am learning that the blame I placed on the parents, faculty and law enforcement was at least partially unfair. The majority of the blame for these murders belongs to Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.

I listened to the audio book version of Columbine. The recording is just over 14 hours long and narrated by Don Leslie. He reads at a even pace and has an easily understandable voice. Given the subject matter, this is NOT an easy book to listen to and not appropriate for children. The journal excerpts from the two shooters contains graphic and oftentimes vulgar language. There are graphic details about the shootings and actions of the shooters. If you are at all triggered by descriptions of fear, violence, murder, etc -- then this is not the book for you. It's heavy stuff. Be forewarned. But, it is informative and never disrespectful. The information is presented without bias. The Harris and Klebold families are not vilified, and the shooters are not demonized. But the truth is not sugar-coated either.