ABSTRACT
In chapter 3, we described a string of shootings by schoolchildren that, together, claimed the lives of 50 people. The worst of these horrific incidents was the one in Littleton, Colorado, when 18-year-old Eric Harris and 17year-old Dylan Klebold used a variety of weapons to kill 12 of their classmates and a teacher before committing suicide. These troubled and rejected young men left behind more than 50 explosive devices apparently designed to destroy their school. They also left a nation asking itself once again what could be done about youthful killers and why so many young people are consumed with hatred and violent aggressiveness. More than any previous school violence incident, the tragedy at Littleton focused public attention on the need to do something to curtail the culture of violence in America, especially as reflected in easy access to guns and in the images of violence increasingly saturating television, movies, music, video games, and Internet Web sites. In short, Americans began to consider more carefully than ever the social and environmental roots of crime.
