THURSTON HIGH SCHOOL i

Springfield, Oregon *
4 dead
January 29, 1979 22 wounded
GROVER CLEVELAND March 13, 1996
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DUNBLANE PRIMARY
San Diego, California SCHOOL
2 dead Dunblane, Scotland
8 wounded 17 dead

May 18, 1927 March 24, 1998

CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL OF BATH WESTSIDE MIDDLE SCHOOL
Bath, Michigan Jonesboro, Arkansas
45 dead 5 dead
58 wounded
10 wounded

April 20, 1999

COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL
Littleton, Colorado
15 dead
23 wounded

4
 March 21,2005
RED LAKE SENIOR
HIGH SCHOOL
Red Lake, Minnesota
10 dead April 16, 2007
February 29, 2000 VIRGINIA TECH UNIVERSITY
BUELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Blacksburg, Virginia
Flint, Michigan 33 dead
1 dead 15 wounded

May 20, 1999 October 3, 2006 September 23, 2008

HERITAGE HIGH SCHOOL WEST NICKEL MINES KAUHAJOKI
Conyers, Georgia AMISH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SCHOOL OF HOSPITALIT
6 wounded Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania Kauhajoki, Finland
6 dead 11 dead
5 wounded 1 wounded

April 26, 2002

JOHAN GUTENBERG
HIGH SCHOOL
Erfurt, Germany
16 dead 1 CONVERSATION QUESTIONS Q
7 wounded Worksheet 2

2 IN GROUPS: FACT FILE O

Make a faet file about the most recent school
shooting. Compare your tindings with the tindings
of the rest of your class.

3 IN GROUPS: LISTEN TO THE EXPERTS 0

Worksheets 3a + 3b
Are there any similarities in these school shootings?
What surprised you the most about the shootings?

5
COLUMBINE
Preface
The story of two young boys who vented their
aggressions on their own school with teachers and
classmates as the targets of their shooting rampage
has been covered by the media in painstaking detail.
8
Many innocent teenagers were killed in the Colum-
bine High School shooting. In the end, the boys
turned their weapons on themselves and committed
suicide. They had a suicide pact. When they started
their rampage, they knew that they would not come
out alive.
The point of this chapter is to introduce you to an
actual school shooting episode and the terrible costs
it has had for both the bereaved relatives and society
in general,

9
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold arrived at school in
their cars around 11 o'clock in the morning on April
20, 1999. They entered the school. They went to
the cafeteria where they planted bombs that were
intended to explode at lunchtime when the cafeteria
would be filled with pupils. Then they went back to
their cars to watch the events unfold.
Things did not go according to plan. After realizing
that the bombs would not go off, Eric and Dylan
re-entered the school heavily armed, determined to
10
kill anyone they met. Their first victims were a couple
who had just stepped outside the front door. Once
inside, the two boys shot at anyone they met on their
way to the cafeteria. 911 received several emergency
calls from the school and the police arrived but did
not enterthe building.
At around 11:30 am, the two boys were in the library.
Wearing a white baseball cap at Columbine High
School was a tradition amongst sports team mem-
bers. Eric and Dylan yelled, “All jocks stand up!” and,
“We’ll get the guys in white hats.” When no one stood
up, they methodically started killing students who 1 IN PAIRS: FACT FILE O
were hiding under the tables. Make faet files about Eric Harris and Dylan
Klebold. Compare your tindings with another pair.
The shooting stopped at ardund 12 o'clock when Write down any new information.
Eric and Dylan used their weapons to commit sui-
cide. The police and rescue forces did not enter the
building until 1 o’clock. The final search for wounded
and dead continued until 4:00 pm.

11
 TEARS
by Jamie Rowen
I did not cry for Michigan.
It seemed before my time. I did not cry for Jonesboro,
too far away to mind. I did not cry for Palisades
even though it may be mine.
I did not cry for Conyers, Georgia.
By then it all seemed fine.
But I poured my heart right through my eyes
the day they shot up Columbine.
The tears they fell for children lost
and children on the line.
My head fell quick into my hånds
for parents who must pine.
My eyes stayed glossy to a screen
watching kids of my own climb.
But,
what shook my body up the most,
what made it hard to breathe,
what bolted all my stomach down
and wouldn't let me leave.
What made me think about those
and try to empathize
was the fright, the fear, the look of death
in one scared victim’s eyes.
She described a scene so horror filled
so wrapped with movié cuts.
I thought about these kids and film,
what put them in their ruts.
I ruled out only media
we all watch similar things.
But combined with loneliness and fear
who knows what games can bring?
One lesson to be learned from this,
the only one of which l’m sure,
is that a gun manufacturer, movie title, music
lyric, parent, anti-depressant, Internet,
trench coat, insult, or whatever else,
is not the thing at fault
And no gun policy, censorship, parent in jail,
drug ban, website check, dress code, suspension,
or whatever else, would have removed
their every thought.
We must take hooks inside ourselves,
accepting looks with love.
For what they didn’t like in someone else
is what they saw in themselves.

1 VOCABULARY BUILDING
' Worksheet 1
I
I 2 MULTIPLE CHOICE
| Worksheets 4a + 4b

1 3 GROUP DISCUSSION
j From whose perspective is this story in the poem
told? Has Jamie Rowen ever been in a school
shooting? Why is Jamie telling the story?

12
 Saturday October23,1999

Columbine Mother
Commits Suicide
The mother of a student wounded in the Columbine
High School massacre walked into a pawn shop on
Friday, asked to see a handgun, loaded it and then
used it to kill herself.
Mrs. Hochhalter brought ammunition with her into Members of the Littleton community - still trying to
the Alpha Pawn Shop in Englewood, Colorado and come to terms with their grief following the massa­
asked to see a gun. When the assistant turned his cre - were shocked at the news of Mrs. Hochhalter’s
back, she apparently loaded the weapon and fired death.
twice, striking herself once and hitting the wall with
a second bullet. "I'm absolutely horrified,” said Steve Cohn, the
father of a 15-year-old student who survived the
She left a note, but its contents were withheld by shootings. “We’ve been under a lot of stress recently
authorities. Her 17-year-old daughter Anne-Marie but what do you do?”
was shot several times in the spinal cord, back and
chest in the 20 April shootings at the high school in Jefferson County District Attorney Dave Thomas
Littleton, Colorado. said: “This pain and suffering is not fair. We do not
understand it. All we can do is share it with the
Anne-Marie was left partially paralysed in the Hochhalters and others in the community.”
shootings. She had moved her legs for the first time
this week.
EMERGENCY
911
Transcripts of emergency telephone calls made to dispatchers
during the Columbine school shooting.

IN THE LIBRARY IN THE SCIENCE AREA

The teacher is hiding in the library while trying to get
assistance by phoning 911.
Teacher: Yes, l'm a teacher at Columbine High
School and there is a student here with a gun. He
just shot out a window. I believe, um, l'm at Colum­
bine High School. I don’t know what’s in my shoulder.
If it was just some glass. I don’t know what's going
on.
Dispatcher: Has anyone been injured, ma’am?
A teacher is calling 911 for help, while his students
are trying to save the life of one of his fellow col-
leagues.
Teacher: There are about twenty to thirty students
and faculty members there. They've got the rooms
locked up. The kids who are running with the shot-
guns also have Molotov-type cocktail bombs.... One
of the faculty is injured; he was shot in the jaw. And
they are having very much difficulty in controlling the
bleeding.

Teacher: I am, yes! And the school is in a panic and
l’m in the library. I've got students down. Kids under
the table! My kids are screaming, under the table,
kids, and my teachers are trying to take control of
things. We need police here.
Dispatcher: OK, so he was shot in the jaw?
Teacher: Yes.
Dispatcher: OK, where is he now?

Dispatcher: OK, OK, we're getting them. Who is the Teacher: He is in science room number three.
student, ma’am?
Dispatcher: Are they applying some pressure to the
Teacher: I don’t know who the student is. I saw a jaw area?
student outside ... I said what was going on out there.
(Talking to students) I don’t think that’s a really good Teacher: Yes, they are.
idea. (Back to dispatcher) And we were waiting to
see what was going on. He turned the gun straight Dispatcher: Is he breathing?
at us and shot and my God, the window went out and
the kid standing there with me, I think he got hit Teacher: Yes, he is. They’ve got him elevated ... the
best they can. They've got some Band-Aids. They're
Dispatcher: OK, we got help on the way, ma’am. not Band-Aids, but they have cloth ... to try to control
the bleeding. But they are having difficulty stopping
Teacher: Oh God! Oh God! Kids, just stay down. the bleeding. He’s bleeding out of the mouth.
Do we know where he's at? l'm in the library. He’s
upstairs. He's right outside of here. He's outside this Dispatcher: Don’t let him close his eyes....
hall. There are lines of people ... Kids, just stay down!
Do we know where he's at? He’s outside in the hall.
There's alarms and things going off and smoke. (Yell-
ing): My God, smoke is coming into this room. I’ve got
the kids under a table. I don’t know what’s happening
in the rest of the building.

18
THE SCHOOL
SHOOTING AT
THURSTON HIGH
In May of 1998, Kip Kinkel shoots his dad and later his mom. The next day he
goes off to school, where he kills two students and injures 25 others.
Kristin Kinkel is Kip's fiveyear oldersister. In this
interview, Kristin discusses what it was like growing
up with herparents and brother, her parents'grow­
ing concerns about Kip, and the reasons why no one
in the family saw any warning signs about what was
Corning.
Do you think Kip felt compared to you in
some way that he couldn’t meet or live up to?
I think all second children are compared. I'm sure Kip
felt compared. My parents made a huge effort not to
compare us. I'm sure teachers and family compared
us, and my parents did in their own little way, but they
tried really hard not to let him be aware of it. Every-
body’s different
My strengths were relating to people. I liked to talk.
Languages, the humanities, and that kind of stuff
were my strengths. I don't even know if I passed
math. Math and science were his strengths. We fo-
cused a lot on his strengths and my strengths being
different.
What was your role in the family?
I often saw myself as a mediator between my par­
ents and my brother. My parents were getting older,
in their mid-50s, when he was in middle school.
When I left, they didn’t have that, and I’m sure it was
harder. There’s a huge generation gap there.
Was there a time when your parents were
concerned that he was in trouble, or heading
down a bad path?
Kip had some friends who weren’t the best-quality
people. My parents were worried about his friends, as
a lot of parents are. He did some stupid things. I did
some stupid things. If they had caught a lot of things
that I did, I would have been in not as much trouble
as he was, but more than I was. I just knew how to
not get caught..
24
How concerned were they about his interest
in guns and making bombs?
They were both really, really concerned about it. He
had been interested since he was a little boy. He was
not allowed to have little soldiers, or any kind of toy
that had any kind of violent anything. ...We weren’t
allowed to watch Bugs Bunny because it was too
violent Violence in our house was a huge no-no.
He wasn't interested in violence. He was interested
in guns: how they worked, what made them have the
power that they have.... I know he wasn't interested
in hunting anybody.... He even told me that his goal
was to be on the bomb squad. Atter he graduated
from high school and went on to college, he wanted
to go into law enforcement...
So until that awful day, nobody would have
seen it coming?
I can say with confidence: not something that huge.
Until that day, there was nothing that could make us
believe that something of this scale was possible.
There was no way we could have seen something
this huge coming.
Opposite:
Thurston High School senior class president
Sadie Wilson (L) listens as US President Bill Clinton
consoles students, faculty, and families of 13 June
in Springfield, Oregon. It was three weeks atter the
shooting tragedy.
KIP KINKEL
Faet file:
KIP KINKEL

AGE GRADE
13 7th Buys mail-order bomb books
14 8th Gets caught shoplifting
Is arrested for throwing rocks off a highway overpass
Is taken to see a psychologist by his mother
Shows an ongoing interest in explosives
Is prescribed Prozac, an anti-depressant
Kip’s father buys him a 9mm Glock, which is not to be Kip’s until he turns 21
Secretly buys another gun from a friend and begins a hidden gun collection
15 9th Kip’s father buys him a Ruger .22 semiautomatic rifle under the condition that
he will use it only under adult supervision
Gives a “how to make a bomb” speech in class
Secretly buys a gun from a friend and keeps it in his locker at school
Kills tour people, injures more than twenty. Is arrested
Is sentenced to 111 years in prison

1 VOCABULARY BUILDING
Worksheet 1

2 CONVERSATION QUESTIONS Q
Worksheet 6

3 GENERATION GAP
Worksheet 7
Make a survey on yourself and your parents.
Compare your tindings in class. If there is a gen­
eration gap in your class between you and your
parents, list the five most important aspects on
the board.

4 ROLE MODELS
What is a role model? Discuss what it takes to be
a good role model.
- write down what you think it takes to be an
inspiration to others.
- in class, list everybody’s opinions on the board
and come to an agreement about what you as a
class finds it takes to be a positive role model.
Are there negative role models? How do you
define a negative role model?

25
Brenda Spencer
Using a new .22-caliber sniper rifle her dad gave her for Christmas,
5-foot-l Brenda Spencer, age 16, opened fire on the campus across
the Street from her home as students arrived for class this morning
at 8:30 am.
One of the first of the injured children Police were able to call Brenda on the
was being helped by the school princi­ phone and she told them she had been
pal who was then killed by Brenda. The drinking and taking barbiturates. When
janitor then went to aid the principal, asked by police why she started firing
but he too was shot down by the petite on the children, she replied, “I don’t like
blonde giri. More than 100 officers and Mondays. This livens up the day.”
20 patrol units reached Grover Cleve­
land Elementary within minutes of the
first shots being fired. Eight students
and a police officer were also wounded
by Brenda.

1 WORD MATCH
Worksheet 8

2 MEASUREMENTS
Brenda is 5-foot-1, which is 5 feet and 1 inch tall.
How much is that in the metric system?
- How tall is everyone in your group in feet and
inches?
- How much do you weigh in pounds and
ounces?

3 IN PAIRS: FACT FILE O

Make a Faet File on Brenda’s background. Look
for reasons why she ended up being a school
shooter. Present your tindings to your class.

27
I DON’T LIKE
MONDAYS
by Boomtown Rats
When the Silicon chip inside her head Tell me why
Gets switched to overload I don't like Mondays
And nobody's gonna go to school today Tell me why
She's gonna make them stay at home I don't like Mondays
And Daddy doesn't understand it Tell me why
He always said she was good as gold I don’t like Mondays
And he can see no reasons I wanna shoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oot
'Cos there are no reasons The whole day down, down, down, shoot it all down
What reason do you need to be show-ow-ow-ow-own?
And all the playing’s stopped in the playground now
Tell me why She wants to play with the toys a while
I don't like Mondays And school's out early and soon we'll be learning
Tell me why And the lesson today is how to die
I don’t like Mondays And then the bullhorn crackles
Tell me why And the captain tackles
I don’t like Mondays With the problems of a house and wife
I wanna shoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oot the whole day down And he can see no reasons
‘Cos there are no reasons
The Telex machine is kept so clean What reason do you need to die, die? Oh Oh Oh
And it types to a waiting world
And Mother feels so shocked Tell me why
Father's world is rocked I don't like Mondays
And their thoughts turn to their own little giri Tell me why
Sweet 16 ain’t that peachy keen I don't like Mondays
Now that ain’t so neat to admit defeat Tell me why
They can see no reasons I don't like
'Cos there are no reasons I don't like (Tell me why)
What reasons do you need? Oh Oh Oh Oh I don’t like Mondays
Tell me why
I don’t like
I don’t like (Tell me why)
1 IN PAIRS: MEMORY I don’t like Mondays
Worksheet 9
Tell me why
Play a Memory Game.
I don't like Mondays
I wanna shoo-oo-oo-oo-oo-oot the whole day down
2 THE MESSAGE
What came first the song or the shooting? Look
for answers in the song and on the Internet.
What is the message in the song?

3 IN PAIRS: WHAT IS THE REASON?

Worksheets 10a + 10b.
I don’t like Mondays, tekst og musik: Bob Geldof. Copyright ©
Write down the reasons mentioned to why school
1979 Promostraat BV, Holland. Sherlock Holmes Music Limited.
shootings happen. In class, discuss the reasons
All Rights Reserved. International Copyright Secured.
you found.
Trykt med tilladelse af Edition Wilhelm Hansen AS, København.

28
1 WORD MATCH
Worksheet 15

2 SPLIT SENTENCES
Worksheet 16

3 WEBQUEST ON MARILYN MANSON

Worksheet 17

4 SPEECH
Do you agree or disagree with Marilyn Manson?
Is he to blame for the Columbine Shootings?
Make a two minute speech where you state your
opinion. You may choose to record your speech.
VICTIM OR
PERPETRATOR ?
Is bullying an acceptable reason for shooting up your school? Peter is being
prosecuted in the co urt room. His defense lawyer, Jordan, explains the reasons
for his actions. It is now up to the jury to decide his sentence.
Excerpt from Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult.
lordan walked toward the jury, his hånds in his pockets.
“Ms Leven told vou that on the morning of March 6,
2007, Peter Houghton walked into Sterling High School
with a knapsack t u 11 of loaded weapons, and he shot a
lot of people. Well, shes right. The evidence is going to
show that, and wc dont dispute it. We know that its a
tragedy for both the people who died and those who
wil] live with the aftermath. But here’s what Ms Leven
didn't tell you: when Peter walked into Sterling High
School that morning, he had no intention of becom-
ing a mass murderer. He walked in intending to defend
himself trom the abuse hed suffered tor twelve straight
years.”
“On Peters first day of school,” lordan continued, "his
mother put him on the kindergarten bus with a brand
new Superman lunch box. By the end of the ride to the
school, that lunch box had been thrown out the win-
dow Now. all of us have childhood memories of other
kids leasing ns or being cruel, and most of us are able
to shake that off, but Peter Houghtons life wasn’t one
where these things happened occasionallyf
36
“From that very tirst day in kindergarten. Peter experi-
enced a daily barrage of taunting, tormenting, threat-
ening, and bullying. This child has been stutfed into
lockcrs, had his head shoved into toilets, been tripped
and punched and kicked. He has had a private email
spammed out to an entire school. He’s had his pants
pulled down in the middleof the cafeteria. Peters real-
ity was a world where. no matter what he did no mat­
ter how small and insignificant he made himself - he
was still always the victim. And as a result, he started
to turn to an alternate world: one created by himself in
the safety of HTML code. Peter set up his own website,
created video games, and tilled them with the kind of
people he wished were surrounding him.”
Jordan ran his hånd along the railing of the jury box.
“One of the witnesses you’re going to hear from is Dr
King Wah. He’s a forensic psychiatrist who’s examined
Peter and has spoken with him. He’s going to explain
to you that Peter was suffering from an illness called
post-traumatic stress disorder. Its a complicated medi-
cal diagnosis, but its a real one, and children who have
it can't distinguish between an immediate threat and
 llhi^ .,ndw of MV SISTfiR'S KUiPliR

Nmeteen Minuted
1 VOCABULARY BUILDING
Worksheet 1

2 IN GROUPS: ROLE PLAY

Worksheet 19
Get role cards from your teacher. Act out the
discussion.

3 LISTEN TO THE EXPERTS 0

Worksheets 20a + 20b + 20c

a distant threat. Even though you and 1 might be able He held the gaze of each turor in turn. “For example,
to walk down the hall and spy a bully whos paying no when most people hear the term self-defense,' they as-
attention to us, Peter would see that same person and sume it means that someone is holding up a gun, or a
his heart rate would speed up ... his body would sidle knite to the throat - that there’s an immediate physical
a little closer to the wall... because Peter was sure hed threat. But in this case, self-defense may not mean what
be noticed, threatened, beaten, and hurt. Dr Wah will you think. And what the evidence will show, ladies and
not only tell you about studies that have been done on gentlemen, is that the person who walked into Sterling
children like Peter. he’U tell you how Peter was directly High and bred all those shots was not a premeditated,
atfected by the years and years of torment at the hånds cold-blooded killer. as the prosecution wants you to be-
of the Sterling High School community." lieve." lordan walked behind the detense table and put
his hånds on Peters shoulders. “He was a very scared
lordan faced the jurors again. “Do you remember earlier boy who had asked for protection ... and had never
this week. when we were talking to you about whether received it."
you'd be an appropriate juror to sit on this case? One of
the things I asked each and every one of you during that
process was whether you understood that you needed
to listen to the evidence in the courtroom and apply the
lav, as the judge instructs you. As much as we learned
from civics dass in eighth grade or Law & Order on
Wednesday-night TV ... until you're here listening to
the evidence and hearing the instructions of the court,
you dont know what the rules really are.”

37
AMERICAN VOICES:
THE SECOND
AMENDMENT
LIZ
I guess when you live in this country and you have
this history and know how passionate people are for
it, I don’t think we can take the Second Amendment
and throw it all away. I don’t think that is realistic. I
don’t believe that is going to happen. Changes tend
to happen in bits and pieces. We have a right to
freedom, liberty and pursuit of happiness. It is always
a matter of keeping a balance.
I don’t keep a handgun for self-defence. That would
be the last thing I would want for self-defence. I
would rather use a fire extinguisher. When I lived in
Minneapolis, which is a big city, I would sometimes
be worried because there are some bad guys out
there. Sometimes I would be alone and be afraid
that someone would break in. Then I would have a
fire extinguisher by my bed. That was my choice of
weapon for self-defence.
PEGGY
Is there a country in the worid that does not deal with
murder? I don’t think so. I don’t believe that the pres­
ent law here is the right answer. At the same time I
ask myself, would people stop killing each other if we
took away the Second Amendment?
AMANDA
I am a mother of three young children. They are
between the ages of 1 and 5. We have guns stored
in our house. Do I ever worry about this? Yes and
no. First of all, they are locked up and the key is in
a totally different place than the guns. And they are
unloaded. But if we have a break in our guns are
close enough for us to be able to reach them.
You may argue that I can call the police, but they are
not going to get there in time. If you have somebody
coming to your house you have a problem that needs
to be dealt with immediately.
40
JOHN
I think the Second Amendment is good. I think it
means exactly what it says. I think it should be kept
exactly the way it is and interpreted the way it is. It
says that you have the right to own and bear a fire-
arm. It is held for a well-regulated militia and the right
of the PEOPLE to own and bear a firearm. They say
a well-regulated militia. If you want to go back and
look at it, the militia was the people. The Minute Men,
the militia. When the Founding Fathers put the words
"the right of the people" in the Second Amendment
they were referring to all of us. It was not just for
military. That is MY interpretation. So I believe that as
an American I have the right to own a firearm.
I have been a National Rif le Association (NRA) mem-
ber for many, many years. I got the license to carry
a gun when I was 12 years old. I got my certificate
saying I was a legal hunter and that I was allowed
to carry a gun in the woods. I have two sons. They
also got their licenses when they turned 12.1 believe
firmly that without having completed the gun safety
program, a person should not have the right to carry
a gun. I chose to be a member of the NRA because
they lobby in Washington for me to keep my rights to
have a gun.
To say that the gun was the reason for the crime is
like saying that the pencil was the reason that the
word got spelt wrong. It just doesn’t make sense.
THE CARRY AND
CONCEAL LAW
In May 2003, the Minnesota Personal Protection Act (also referred to as the ”carry and
conceal” law) went into effect. It permits individuals to carry firearms in public. This means
that you are allowed to walk into a public building, for example a library, a games store or a
restaurant, while carrying a handgun as long as the weapon is not visible.

The “carry and conceal” law says that a sheriff must

issue a permit to carry a handgun if the applicant:
■ Has training in the safe use of a pistol
■ Is at least 21 years old and a citizen or a
permanent resident of the United States
■ Completes an application
■ Is not prohibited from possessing a firearm
• Is not listed in the criminal gang investigative
data system
AMERICAN VOICES:
THE CARRY AND
CONCEAL LAW
PEGGY
A couple of years ago the state of Minnesota
passed a law allowing residents to carry a concealed
weapon. I think that is ridiculous. To make a law that
indicated I could get a permit, buy a gun; carry it in
my purse just to go shopping! It is not a good law
because it gives people the idea that someone like
me who has no business having a firearm should go
and get themselves one. I would not know the first
thing about how to use one. Just by making a law
like that it gives people like me the idea, “Oh, I should
go out and get a gun so I can protect myself.” I just
think that is so stupid. Some places they don’t like
this new law. So now we have hospitals and busi-
nesses that have posted signs saying, “No Firearms
on the Premises."
JOHN
It used to be illegal to carry a firearm even if you
feltthreatened when going somewhere. I like the
idea that nobody knows if I have a carry and con­
ceal permit. What they don’t know is going to give
them a second thought before approaching me
I^The others are against it. How would a “carry and
to ruin my day. You don’t just go out and get that
permit. You have to be able to shoot that firearm.
You have to know that firearm. You have to be able
to perform on a range before they issue you that
permit.
LIZ
Maybe I just don’t know the circumstances that
would change my mind, but I just don’t see a
need to carry a weapon. I really don’t. In law
enforcement you obviously can carry a weapon,
but that someone else needs to do that does not
seem right. This law is meantto hurt people. I
don’t like the idea that people are walking around
the streets carrying a weapon that is meant to
hurt people.
ERIC
The carry and conceal law means that you can have
permission to carry a handgun on your person. A
woman can carry it in her purse. A man can carry it in
his pocket, in his suit pocket or his pants pocket. So
people you meet when you are shopping atthe mall,
they might be carrying a handgun. That is legal. This
is unless it is a public place that states on the en-
trance that this establishment prohibits the carrying
of guns. Actually, you can walk into most buildings
carrying a handgun. I don’t like this. I think it cre-
ates a potential for terrible mishaps. I am very much
against it. I am probably one of only two in my family
of seven who believe so. The rest of my family is very
much into supporting the National Rifle Association
and their political views. They feel that it is part of
the Second Amendment, but I really don’t think it is. I
think it is a misinterpretation of the Second Amend­
ment.
POINTS OF DISCUSSION
Only John approves with the “carry and conceal” law.
conceal” law fif in with the values of your country?
1 WORD MATCH
Worksheet 25
2 IN GROUPS OF FOUR: PRO OR CON?
Worksheet 26
Discuss which person you agree with the most
and why. Compare your answer with other
groups.
3 IN GROUPS OF FOUR:
MAKING THE LAW
First you work alone. Write down the five most im-
portant rules about guns for your imaginary coun­
try. Exchange opinions in your group. As a group,
write down the five rules you find are best. Then
present them to your class. Remember to discuss
why one rule is better than the other.
45
 AMERICAN VOICES •
PRO AND CON
JIM, FATHER
I think there shouid be a zero tolerance for weapons
in school, but I think that some people overreact and
enforce it under circumstances that are not neces-
sary. One kid had a cap gun and he was expelled
from school! Every law or rule can be misused.

CONNIE, MOTHER
I don’t think there is any reason you shouid have
real guns in school. There might be a case where a
child takes his parents’ car to school with a gun in
the trunk or in the glove compartment The kid might
not be aware that the weapon is in the vehicle, but
still somebody has to take responsibility for the gun.
If the child is taking the car and the parent put the
gun in there then the parent shouid have taken it out
In general, l would say that I am in favor of the zero
tolerance policy.

JOHN, FATHER
I think zero tolerance has gone too far when a kid
who is planning to go hunting after school gets into
trouble if they find that there is a gun in the trunk.
For him, it is automatic expulsion and jail and every-
thing else. I don’t agree with that I mean that it has
gone too far when kids can’t have a weapon in the
car for an activity after school.

PEGGY, SCHOOL SECRETARY AND MOTHER

I work at a school where we have the zero tolerance
1 VOCABULARY BUILDING policy. I appreciate that, because it says that weap-
Worksheet 1 ons can’t be on school grounds. However, there was
an incident where somebody had a knife from an
2 IN PAIRS: ZERO TOLERANCE LIST
Make a list of the cases mentioned in the inter­
views. Decide in each incident whether you would
enforce the zero tolerance policy.
Compare with others.

3 IN GROUPS: ROLE PLAY

Worksheet 28
Get a role card from your teacher. Don’t show it to
the other group members! Imagine you are setting
up a discussion on TV about the zero tolerance
policy. Read your role cards carefully. Act out the
discussion.
 ERO
•Tid
activity. That person was suspended, just like that.
It was a good kid. It was a kid who caused no prob­
lems, but who forgot that it was in his backpack from
another activity. Somebody saw it and reported it, and
boom. He was gone, suspended. He was in trouble.
TJ, FATHER
In the Midwest a lot of kids hunt and fish. If they drive
a car to schooi and they have been hunting or fish-
ing and have accidentally left their filet knife or their
hunting rifle in the trunk or the backseat or some-
thing, and they get caught, then, I think schooi ad­
ministration should do a little bit of research into the
circumstances surrounding why it was in a vehicle. It
is completely different if it is in schooi, because then
it is someone’s conscious decision to carry it with
them into schooi. In this respect I do think it has gone
too far when someone can be expelled for some-
thing he accidentally left in the backseat of his car.
But if you are caught with something in schooi, yes, I
think you should be expelled. I think it is good then.
JEANNE, MOTHER
I know a boy who brought a water pistol to schooi. It
was green and it was in plastic. He was suspended
for a week. Zero tolerance has possibly gone too far.
However, do I think that any guns should be permit-
ted in schooi? Real guns? Absolutely not. Should he
be reprimanded, and get into a little trouble? Yes.
But five days of absence from schooi is kind of silly.
1-
MICHAEL, VICE PRINCIPAL
At my schooi we had zero tolerance. We don't any
longer. We took zero tolerance away because there
are situations where a child brings something that
could be considered a weapon to schooi. It could be
a pocket knife. Let me give you an example. We have
a mixed family, meaning a child spends one week
with his mother and the next week with his father. He
is moving some of his things every week. Sometimes
that move happens officially on Monday atter schooi,
but he leaves his father Monday morning, brings his
things to schooi and then goes off to his mother's
house on Monday night. I had a child who did this. He
was with his father over the weekend and he had a
pocket knife in the building, A Swiss army knife.
Now, zero tolerance would have said: weapon,
schooi, gone for 365 days! I, along with a number of
other people in our schooi administration, said “we
don't need this zero tolerance.” We need a group of
people that are going to make a decision along with
our police liaison officer whether this was a weapon,
if it was to be seen as a threat or not Not all schools
use common sense in a case like this.
POINTS OF DISCUSSION
How would a zero tolerance policy influence the
everyday life on your schooi? What is the best way
for a schooi to prevent incidents of violence? /
WE NEED TO
TALK ABT
KEVIN
Kevin is a troubled kid. He has decided to kill some of
his fellow students. His school has a zero tolerance
policy but he has found a way to carry out his mis­
sion without being questioned by either his parents or
school authorities.
He has taken up archery as an extracurricular activity.
He is, thereby able to bring a large and fata! amount
of non-ballistic arms from home and into the school
without anybody stopping him. His plan is to trap
the students and look them up while he shoots them
with his arrows. He will bring very powerful locks so
his victims cannot escape and cannot be rescued by
others. His cover story is that he is selling these locks
to students at school.
We enter the story on what seems to be just another
morning in his family. Kevin, his mom, dad, and sister
Celia are in the kitchen having breakfast. The text is
based on a book that is written as a series o f letters
from his mom to his dad.
Aside from the faet that Kevin got up without hav­
ing to be rousted three times, it began as a normal
morning. As ever, I marveled at your appetite, re­
cently revived; you may have been the last WASP in
America who still regularly breakfasted on two eggs,
bacon, sausage, and toast. I could never manage
more than coffee, but I loved the sizzle of smoked
pork, the fragrance of browning bread, and the
general atmosphere of relish for the day ahead that
this ritual fostered. The sheer vigor with which you
prepared this feast must have serubbed your arteries
of its consequences.
“Look at you!” I exelaimed when Kevin emerged. I
was carefully frying Celia's French toast completely
dry, lest a little undercooked egg seem like slime.
"What happened, were all your size-one clothes in
the wash?”
56
“Some days you just wake up,” he said, tucking his
billowing white fencing shirt into the same rippling
black rayon slacks he had worn to Hudson House,
“with a sense of occasion."
In plain view, he packed the five Kryptonite locks and
chains into his backpack. I assumed he’d found tak-
ers at school.
“Kevin looks really handsome,” said Celia shyly.
“Yup, your brother’s a heartbreaker," I said. And
wouldn't he be.
I sifted a generous dusting of confectioner’s sugar
over the toast, stooping by Celia’s soft blond hair to
mumble, "Now don't dawdle, you don’t want to be late
for school again. You're supposed to eat it, not make
friends with it.”
I tucked her hair behind her ears and kissed the
top of her head, and as I did so Kevin cut a glance
toward me as he loaded the backpack with another
chain. Though he'd entered the kitchen with a rare
energy, now his eyes had gone dead:
“Hey, Kev!" you cried. “I ever show you how this cam-
era works? Good knowledge of photography never
hurt anybody; its sure paid off for me. Get over here,
there’s time. I don’t know what's got into you, but you
have forty-five minutes to spare." You pushed your
greasy plate out of the way and opened the camera
bag at your feet.
Unwillingly, Kevin floated over. He didn’t seem in the
mood for GeeDadding this morning. As you went
through the lighting and f-stop positions. I felt a pang
of recognition. Your own father’s awkward version of
intimacy was always to explain in far greater detail
than anyone cared to hear exaetly how some device
worked. You didn’t share Herbert’s conviction that to
take apart the clockwork of the universe was to un-
lock the extent of its mysteries, but you had inherited
a resort to mechanics as an emotional eruteh.
“This reminds me,”you said mid-instruction. “I want
to shoot a roli of you at archery practice sometime
 soon. Capture that steely gaze and steady arm for
posterity, how about it? We could do a whole photo-
montage for the foyer: Braveheart of the Palisades!”
Slapping his shoulder was probably a mistake; he
flinched. And for the briefest of moments I appreciat-
ed what little access we ever had to what really went
' on in Kevin's head, since for a second the mask feil,
and his face curdled with - well, with revulsion, l’m
afraid. To allow even so brief a glimpse of its work-
ings, he must have had other things on his mind.
“Yeah. Dad,” he said effortf ully. “That would be ...
great."
Yet I chose this of all mørnings to gaze upon our do-
mestic tableau in soft-focus. All teenagers hate their
parents, I thought, and there was something price-
less about the antipathy if you could take it. As the
sun caught the fine gold of Celia's hair while she cut
her French toast into ridiculously tiny pieces and you
embarked on a riff about the dangers of backlight-
ing while Kevin twitched with impatience, I was so
heartened by this Norman Rockwell moment that I
considered sticking around until the kids had to leave
for school, maybe giving Celia a lift myself instead of
leaving the run to you. Would that I had given in to
the temptation! But children need routine, I decided,
and if I didn't get a jump on the morning rush hour,
there would be hell to pay on the bridge.
“Shut up!” Kevin barked suddenly at your side. “That’s
enough. Shut up!”
Excerpt from “We Need to Talk About Kevin” by
Lionel Shriver
1 WORD MATCH
Worksheet 30a + 30b
2 SPLIT SENTENCES
Worksheet 31
3 WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Q
Worksheet 32
Your teacher will give you an expression to do
a research on. Use the Internet for your research.
Afterwards, there is a Listen to the Experts
exercise.
4 IN PAIRS: WEB SEARCH
Use the Internet to find the ending of the story.
Discuss how it matches or does not match the
excerpt you have just read.