Duncan+School+Shootings


 * Research Paper Quick Check **

** Startling and informative opening **  [|P.O.D.- Youth Of The Nation]  School shootings are a frightening and tragic part of some American schools. A song by P.O.D. so clearly and sadly shows this. The first verse is about a (fictional) teen who is killed by a classmate in a school shooting. Though it is not about a certain person, the story is only too true for some families. Unfortunately, these tragedies are still happening in our schools, even after so many lives have been destroyed. And nothing is done to prevent these attacks until another one happens, when it is already too late for someone else.

Why do shootings happen and how can we prevent them? Use five main topics (Bullying, Antidepressants, Guns and Other Weapons, Violence in the Media and Warning Signs) to show why this happens and how it can be stopped.
 * Quick summary of main question that I mean to answer or reason I think this topic is important **

1. Antidepressants mess with your head and can cause psychosis. 2. Even though there is no profile, there are shocking similarities between many of the shooters. However, many of these signs are present in teenagers who don’t do something to this extreme. 3. Some videogames sold to the public were originally meant to train sniper shooters in the military, like Metal Gear Solid 2 or Full Spectrum Warrior.
 * Two or three most interesting things I learned from research **

1. Bullying does have an effect on the majority of school shooters. Many school shooters feel isolated, picked on and friendless. 2. There is no profile that fits every shooter.
 * Confirmation or rejection of one or two commonly held beliefs about this topic **

Everyone either goes to school or knows someone who does, and wants schools to be safe.
 * Something to connect the topic to the reader's life so that he/she will care **

   Every school shooting happens under different circumstances, which is why experts are so divided on whether school shootings can be prevented. If there is no profile for a shooter and each shooting happens for different reasons, how can we stop them? Maybe we need to focus on how we can stop these kids from feeling so helpless and desperate. Or that we need to reach out to these kids and take these contributing factors away, like violent videogames or guns sitting out, because they’re leading kids to do terrible things. But when you take these out of the picture, there are way fewer songs about kids who have died in a classroom and more families celebrating Christmas with their kids. Duncan FAQ
 * A closing surprise...intriguing fact, quotation, or discovery from my own research **