James Miller

Stopping Violence - What to Look For

Many acts of violence, suicide and murder by youth can be prevented if the warning signs are noted and action is taken. An example of such failure is Columbine High School. A bigger tragedy than the deaths was how easily they could have been prevented.

Get help! The Lack Of Action Is A Price To High To Pay
When there is any act of bullying or violence against another, it is cause for serious concern. When it is increasingly involving our children and youth, we need to do more. We need to look at all aspects of the contributing factors and find pro active solutions. On February 26, 2004 Ken Salazar, the Attorney General for the state of Colorado released a damning publication, "Report of the Investigation into the 1997 Directed Report and Related Matters Concerning the Columbine High School Shootings in 1999". In this report there are many concerns that were brought to light. There were many opportunities in which Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold could have been stopped from shooting up the school, killing 13 students and staff in addition to injuring more than 20 others. It further demonstrated that there were apparently many mistakes made and there were cover ups. In addition there were officers lying to the public and the international media. One can only speculate the reason for this was to cover their own asses. Much infighting in the Sheriff's office was counter productive to public safety and contributed to the failure to stop the school massacre.

Let's take a look at some of the warning signs in this case and compare these to other acts of violence and murder in other cases. Although a guideline of warning signs is presented further ahead in this chapter, it is a guideline and other warning signs can be displayed outside what is printed in this book. If you have concerns about someone's behavior, do not ignore it.

Acts of bullying by Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold towards other students and persons in the community

-Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold cause damage to vehicle of Brooks Brown's Car
-Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold have web site documenting actions they have taken to vandalize homes and property in addition to listing a fellow students home phone number and encourage web visitors to “prank call” this number
-Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold are caught breaking into a van and are placed in the Jefferson County Juvenile Diversion Program
-Threats are made on the website against a fellow student and reported to police. Print outs are also given to police
-Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold are suspected of paintballing a house causing damage
-In 1997 & 1998 the Jefferson County Sheriff's bomb squad is allegedly finding a pipe bomb per week in the community. Suspects are Ryan Harris and Dylan Klebold
-Pipe bombs mentioned on the website
-Web site accounts listed for other acts of illegal mischief in the community on many occasions referred to as “missions”.
-School project completed by Ryan Harris and Dylan Klebold referring to violence as a measure of conflict resolution
-A search warrant affidavit was drawn up by Investigator Guerra for the home of Ryan Harris. This is never presented to the District Attorney and gets placed on the back burner.

The above noted actions do not include the many video tapes, journal and other items that have been logged into evidence by the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department as they were only accessed after the Columbine School Shooting but should have been noticed prior to this time and reported by a parent. Further, the parent(s) should have been aware of all of the pipe bomb making materials and other behavior which was consistent with high risk activities.

Now let's take a look at two other cases in Vancouver, British Columbia in which the victims both survived.

-A student is reported to have taken a knife to school on several occasions and at times reportedly made threats to other students.
-The student brings a knife to school as a part of a project in which the teacher has asked students to bring an item of great personal value or representative of themselves, again this student brings a knife.
-The family is evicted from their home and the maintenance person discovers pellets shot into the walls of the teens bedroom and possible gun powder in the same room and does not report it to anyone.
-The student makes comments to other students that he is going to shoot up the school.
-The parents give the teen $100 per day to buy his meals and flashes a lot of cash around at school.
-Teen is suspended from school for again bringing a knife into the school.
-The teen gets into an argument with another student across the street from the school where students gather to smoke and the said student pulls the knife and makes threats. Then the teen slashes the throat of another teen.

Case 2 in Vancouver, British Columbia

Several teens attend another school and threaten students with violence several times.
Concerned students speak with parents about the “visitors.”
Parents write letters of concern to the school.
School officials respond to letters with explanation that they have dealt with the matter and there is no further cause for concern.
Same students return to the school, walk into the building with a baseball bat and other weapons and attack a student in the middle of a busy hallway, blood is all over and the student is rushed to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Now with the three above listings of events, we will now look at a list of warning signs of violence. Some are clearer than others but when all combined in each incident, these events could have all been prevented had proper action been take by all persons including, teachers, school officials, law enforcement, parents and students. In some of the cases we will explore, many persons took the right steps and when others failed, they allowed the actions to manifest into more serious acts of violence or murder.

-Loss of temper on a daily basis
-Frequent physical fighting
-Significant vandalism or property damage
-Increase in use of drugs or alcohol
-Increase in risk-taking behavior
-Detailed plans to commit acts of violence
-Announcing threats or plans for hurting others
-Enjoying hurting animals
-Carrying a weapon
-A history of violent or aggressive behavior
-Gang membership or strong desire to be in a gang
-Access to or fascination with weapons, especially guns
-A victim of bullying
-Poor school performance
-History of discipline problems or frequent run-ins with authority
-Feeling constantly disrespected
-Failing to acknowledge the feelings or rights of others
-Victims of or witness to domestic and other abuse
-Withdrawn from regular activities at school and outside of school
-Frequent or severe bouts of depression
-Erratic and unpredictable changes in mood

Copyright © 2004 James Miller. All rights reserved worldwide.
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About The Author ...
This excerpt is from the new book by James Miller, Founder of End Youth Violence, www.youthandviolence.com and author of Youth Violence - An International Crisis. Reach the author at jamesmiller@jamesmillerproductions.com