Columbine Massacre...10 Years Later
It has been ten years since the Columbine High School massacre, occurred on Tuesday, April 20, 1999. The perpetrators were Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold -- killing 12 students and 1 teacher, as well as injuring 23 others, before committing suicide. It is the fourth deadliest school massacre in United States history, and the deadliest for an American high school.
When this was going on, I was an awkward 13-year-old seventh-grader at Crestview Middle School. There was a "half-day," or early dismissal at school, due to staff development. I first heard about Columbine on the radio, in the car. My initial thoughts were indifferent about the tragedy, since it never happened to me.
As the years went by, hearing about Columbine reminded me how much I disliked high school. I felt I didn't belong. Even to this day, I think I should have ran away sooner...or begged my dad to take custody so I can leave to Chicago. I believed Harris and Klebold must have felt the same way, but now, I'm not sure. Some people said that they weren't the isolated outcasts as it seemed...and if they were, they at least had
each other. Some people have
no one. Also, sometimes,
they picked on others. So, they reasons for killing is so misunderstood...it makes College Algebra look like first grade math to me.
Anyway, as I am closing this blog and this story is once again being reviewed, I will try to watch
Oprah and posted many articles about Columbine. I don't know why these kids did what they did and maybe I'll never know why.
What Sex Ed is Missing
As I am gradually agreeing that maybe abstinence-only programs in sex education are not enough for teens, there is one thing I believe they are leaving out. Things involving homosexuality, bisexuality, or even transexuality. Kids should know about this whether or not they are gay, straight, or bi. I don't know how sex ed is like now, but back in my day, in my home state, they never taught us a thing about LGBT situations when it came to sex. I didn't even hear the word "bisexual" until I was 17 years old. Now, I'm not saying this to promote experimenting, dressing in drag, or to know everything there is to know about the gay lifestyle. I think the kids ought to know because whether they know it or not -- or whether they care or not, LGBT life is around and always has been since the beginning of time. I believe if someone had told me these things as a child, I would have been better off.
15 Years Since Cobain Went Away
It has been apparently fifteen years to this day when Generation X icon, Kurt Cobain died.Kurt Cobain, the lead singer of the grunge band Nirvana, was found dead at his home in Seattle, Washington, on April 8, 1994. Checked out of a drug rehab facility and been reported suicidal by his wife Courtney Love. The Seattle Police Department incident report states that Cobain was found with a shotgun across his body, had a visible head wound and there was a suicide note discovered nearby. The King County Medical Examiner noted that there were puncture wounds on the inside of both the right and left elbow. The Seattle Police Department investigated, and after an autopsy by the King County Coroner's Office, Cobain's death was ruled a suicide by a single gunshot wound to the head.
In the years following his death, Cobain is now often remembered as one of the most iconic rock musicians in the history of alternative music. In 2005, a sign was put up in Aberdeen, Washington that read "Welcome to Aberdeen -- Come As You Are" as a tribute to Cobain. The sign was paid for and created by the Kurt Cobain Memorial Committee, a non-profit organization created in May 2004 to honor Cobain. The Committee also planned to create a Kurt Cobain Memorial Park and a youth center in Aberdeen.
Cobain has no gravesite -- he was cremated, with his ashes scattered into the Wishkah River in Washington, where Nirvana fans visit Viretta Park, near Cobain's former Lake Washington home to pay tribute. On the anniversary of his death, fans gather in the park to celebrate his life and memory.
A Bad Joke for Marvin Gaye
I almost forgot to say this one. Besides it being April Fools Day, what's no joke is that it's twenty-five years to this day that Marvin Gaye was shot and killed by his own father. Talk about bad dads. If Gaye would have lived, he would be turning 70, tomorrow.
