Times Advocate, 1999-05-05, Page 17Wednesday, May 5, 1999
. Exeter Tirneo-Advoca&e
17
Community
Coul o events like the Littleton Massacre ha
By Leonard Lesser
As a counsellor, teacher
and parent, l am horrified
at the news of yet another
senseless killing at a high
school. This time it was in a
town called Littleton in the
state of Colorado, an afflu-
ent community of church-
going good citizens. What
went wrong. How could two
bright teen age youth arm
themselves with shot guns,
pipe bombs and return to
school to kill their fellow
students? How much anger,
frustration and hate doles
one have to possess to
laugh while you are gun-
ning down young athletes,
blacks and anyone else who
crossed your path?
Twenty-three young peo-
ple were hospitalized, 15
dead including the student
gunmen who committed
suicide and one favourite
teacher who was extermi-
nated while trying to pro-
tect his students.
Who were the perpetra-
tors of such a heinous
crime? Two teenagers, Eric
Harris, 18, was "average in
every way" and Dylan
Klebdld, 17, "a bright artic-
ulate young man with a
promising future". They
dressed differently than the
rest of the kids in long black
coats and were called the
Trench Coat Mafia.
They came from "good
families". Dylan lived in a
$500,000 home with eight
expensive cars including a
BMW that he drove to
school. His parents were
professionals, his dad was a
geophysicist and his mom
was employed at the local
college working with dis-
abled students. Eric lived
with his parents in a nice
subdivision with a two car
garage where he used to
make pipe bombs .
Their dress and behav-
iour would have alienated
them from the rest of the
school population where
the norm was to fit in and
be accepted:
Once you cross the line
and are known as a geek,
nerd or fag, you form your
own little cliques to have a
'sense of belonging. To look
and act different is not cool
and is a recipe for being
shunned by your fellow
classmates, forcing you to
look inward and withdraw
from social interaction with
your peers.
The lines are quickly
.drawn. It is very hard to
move back to the "in group"
from the outsiders and
when you try you may be
left in limbo, not accepted
• by anyone. Young males
are seen by society asself
assured but the reality is
somewhat different. The
U.S. stats show that in 1995
, 4,132 fifteen- to twenty-
year -old males committed
suicide compared to 652
females. The Canadian
stats for 1998: 217 males
compared to 47 females
took their lives, a five to one
ratio.
The girls seek out help
and are able to talk out
their problems while the
boys have been taught to
keep their concerns to
themselves and tough it
out. I once aiked a young
man how things were going
and his answer was "not
bad". I, asked "Would you
say good?" and he respond-
ed "No". He was contem-
plating taking his life
because of his dilemma.
Thank God I asked the right
question.
Could the Littleton mas-
sacre have occurred here in
small town Ontario? I posed
the question to a group of
parents and teens and they
felt that we are not immune
and could suffer a similar
fate. My own experience
tells me that it could hap-
pen. At my last school a
teacher told me that one of
my students that I coun-
selled had brought a shot
gun to the .school. His best
friend had killed himself the
weekend before with. a
The Hensatl-Tyke Braves finished the season by win-
ning bronze medals at the recent St. Catharines tour-
nament.
Lying in front Sean Consitt, left, Justin
Campbell; front left: Ryan Cooper, Brett Parker,
Ryan Consitt, Collin Dickins, Ben Hovius, Jordan
Ritchie, Tyler Regier, Justin Meikle; back left: Steven
.• Thomson, Stephen Troyer, Jamie Baer, coach Julie
Ritchie, Patrick Armstrong, Sam Stewart and assistant
coach Randy Parker. Absent is Dylan Fidler.
(photolcontributed)
NOTICE 1.,4
SHIPKA COMMUNITY CENTER
MEMBERS
0-4
Due to increaping costs and decreasing use, members
present at the annual meeting on April 26, 1999 have
agreed to consider the closure, disbanding and sale of
the Shipka Community Centre. If you have any
questions or concerns regarding this matter please
contact one of the following members before May 26,
1999.
John Mull410 238-8536
Sheona Baker 238-558511.'4
Ross Pickering 237-3417
Harold Flnkbeiner 23$-2690
1
sawed off shot gun. We
confiscated the weapon and
called the police, who
informed the parents and
he got some help. 1 trem-
bled when 1 realized how
fortunate I had been that
an anonymous student had:,
set off the alarm bells.
I do not have all the
answers but just maybe we
can question why some
teenagers act out against
society. It is a far different
world than when I started
counselling in high school
many years ago. The access
to information is so much
more pervasive, the Til and
the computer have the
potential to bring violence
into our family rooms. The
net is an open window for
our youth to explore. There
are positive and very nega-
tive web pages that are
open at the click of .the
mouse. Yes, there are
pages of information avail-
able on explosives and how
to make pipe bombs in the
confines of your own home.
A boy. in North London
blew up his house after
browsing the net. A quote
from the web site in the
explosives section reads,
"WelcoMe to nowhere fast,
nothing here ever lasts,
nothing but memories of
what never was, living
makes me sick, too sick, I
wish to die". A night at the
movies for the kids offers
up "Natural Born Killers"
"The Matrix" and "The
Basketball Diaries" which
depict scenes of violence.
The majority of the flicks
listed in the paper are AA
or PC.
We all want to ask who is
to blame? Maybe we are all
a little' responsible for the
massacre at Columbine
High. The teenagers and
the schools are all parts of
our society. Times have
sure changed.
Greg, a divorced father of
two young boys lamented
that there are no firm signs,
no sure futures, all is in
transition. It is hard to have
a rock to secure the present
and make firm plans for the
future. The kids call it
"whatever".
"It is our fault," said a
parent from Littleton. "It is
a sad thing. We are failing
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This morning my son and
daughter left for university
to write their final exams. I
gave them each a hug and
kiss on the cheek and told
them that I loved them.
"Most men look at things
as they are and wonder
why. I dream of things that
never were and ask why
not?"
Len Lesser is a counsellor
providing personal, educa-
tional and career coun-
selling for families. He can
be reached at 519-434-
8316.
Ship's mast flag pole
Art Slade' of King St. in Hensall has built the vil-
lage's most unique flag pole, a replica of a ship's
mast. Slade and his wife Florence, who hail from
Newfoundland, have erected the flag pole to comp
memorate Newfoundland's 50 years in Con-
federation. Other Hensall residents have already
requested the Siades add their flags to the mast.
-444
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