Do you think that Eric Harris's classmates were to blame for Columbine?

Supposedly Eric Harris and his friends were bullied, and that's why they did it. They claimed their classmates brought it upon themselves. Do you think this is true? Do you think it ultimately could have been avoided?





Looking for personal opinion here, I've got my own. I want yours.

Do you think that Eric Harris's classmates were to blame for Columbine?
absolutely not- though there is never an excuse for bullying- there is never an excuse for this kind of retaliation.


The accountability lies with:


Eric - he obviously had some problems and either chose not to or did not have the ability to seek out help- somewhere in him he must have known what he was planning was heinous and avoidable


His parents- it was their responsibility to know what he was involved with, what he had in his room (under THEIR roof)


Teachers and school officials - who saw signs of disturbed behavior and thought processes and did not pursue some type of course to bring it to his parents attention, get counseling, something


AND unless I am mistaken, I thought I heard he was on some type of antidepressant, pharmaceutical - the pharmacuetical companies who KNOW there are natural cures for depression and anxiety and continue to push legal drugs on kids that consistantly have disturbing side effects.





Yes this could have been avoided , bullies have been around for years and personally I don't think that bullying in general has gotten much worse over the past 20 years- they have been here forever and will likely be here forever- they are a convenient scapegoat so the responsible parties don't have to take responsibility. What has changed in the past 20 years is parents are disconnected, home and involved in their kids lives a whole lot less then ever AND more kids are on more legal drugs where the long term side effects are not known and the average side effects are trivialized to the point of keeping the public as ignorant and dependant as possible, this and throw in childrens nutriotional needs are not being met- their brains are starving - processed foods and chemicals - diets are getting worse and worse from younger and younger ages.


The perfect mix for a brain that cannot function properly and is bound to lead a confused and sick child out of control
Reply:Bullying is no excuse for what these two did. What happened to standing up for yourself? Sometimes you have too, it's a fact of life. As a man, you do this with your fists, not guns.





I don't think anyone ever told those kids that things would be ok. Keep fighting, eventually you graduate and hopefully go on to better things.





I also believe that the parents probably didn't pay attention to them. Let your kids know you love them or they will turn out ****** up.





They also committed multiple felonies in obtaining and making their weapons.They were already criminals before this happened.





You cannot blame their classmates for their horrificly selfish and desperate act.
Reply:I think more jerks should be killed. Yes, they probably had something coming, but murder is too much.
Reply:If they are guilty of harassing these boys, then yes, they did bring this upon themselves. I don't think they deserved the death penalty, but that was the chance they took when they decided to make someone else's life a living hell. There is no way to know how someone will react to constant abuse. I am not excusing or encouraging violent retaliation to bullying, but it can be one outcome. All students should be protected from bullying at school, regardless of the social status of the victim or offender. That is part of the problem. Even at a young age we learn who counts and who doesn't, and adults are guilty of selectively enforcing the rules in many cases.
Reply:They may well have been bullied and that in itself is bad.It may well have been the catalyst to set the terrible chain of events in motion but is not an excuse for mass murder