Junior Theme: Blog #2

Things have really started to pick up this past week regarding junior theme.  It was exciting to start collecting sources, reading books and articles pertaining to our overall topic.  However, finding the “right” why question proved to be more difficult than I expected.  Early last week, I thought I had my question all set; I planned on focusing simply on “Why do school shootings occur?” (specifically, the psychological explanation behind them).  However, this question was too matter-of-fact, and would only provide a paper full of lists of possible explanations, with no real argument.  My search in finding a better why question was difficult, and I struggled to find a question that was neither too broad nor too specific.  After talking to Ms. Eich, Doc OC, and Mr. Bolos, I finally formed my question:  Why are school shootings on the rise?  I plan on focusing on why they are more prevalent today.  I mean bullying has been going on for years, so that can’t be the main reason why school shootings are on the rise.  However, the way we communicate has changed drastically over the years through all of the media connections.  Many years ago, teenagers could go to school, and if they wanted, go home and “get away” from the other students.  Nowadays, there are so many ways to communicate, that even when students leave school, they are still immersed socially with other students.  There’s Facebook, texting, cell phones, TV, and more.  With more media ways to communicate, it can end up being a negative factor to some teenagers: it means more ways to get bullied (i.e. cyber bullying).  However, this is only one hypothesis I have regarding the issue, and am continuing to research deeper into other possible reasons school shootings are more common now.

When I was talking to Mr. Bolos, he recommended the book The Copycat Effect.   The book is all about how media and pop culture trigger the mayhem in our society.  While I am just beginning to read this book  (after going to the Skokie library for the closest copy), it focuses on how if one person commits some action or crime, it may subconsciously allow others to think such action is okay for them to commit.

I still have a lot to work on, and am working on finding more articles before I can come up with any such thesis.  I have definitely made some progress, yet have a lot still to do…