Austin Walker
DC English 101
Professor McCrady
20 April, 2023
Klebold, Why?
School is somewhere many kids feel the safest, but on April 20th, 1999 this was false for every student in Columbine High School. On this atrocious day, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, students of Columbine High School, shot up their very own school killing 13 innocent lives made up of other students and faculty. When the terrible acts were finished, the two ended their lives at the crime scene. This has gone down in history as one of the worst high school shootings ever. After the catastrophic event, people were in shock and in fear for their lives. The majority of people would not have assumed that two young 17 and 18-year-olds would have been capable of such evil.
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Dylan had a lot of social anxiety. Dylan felt that he had no real point in life and that he was worthless. His anxiety intensified in his teenage years, leading him to feel isolated and disconnected from his peers. This sense of alienation and anxiety likely contributed to his decision to participate in the shooting. Klebold's anxiety also caused him to obsess over death and violence, as he wrote about these topics in his personal journals (Harris and Klebold 2). He became fixated on the idea of revenge and sought to exert control over his life and the world around him. These feelings of powerlessness and frustration may have led him to seek violent solutions to his problems. In the lead-up to the shooting, Klebold and Eric Harris began to plan their attack. Their planning likely served as a way for Klebold to channel his anxiety and feelings of helplessness into a concrete plan of action. When Klebold's journal was discovered, it revealed the extent of his inner turmoil and anxiety. He wrote about feeling like he didn't belong and was trapped in his own mind. His anxiety may have made him feel like there was no other way out of his situation than to engage in violence. Overall, it appears that Klebold's anxiety played a significant role in his involvement in the Columbine shooting. His feelings of isolation, powerlessness, and frustration likely contributed to his decision to participate in such a tragic event. It is a reminder of the devastating consequences that can result from unaddressed mental health issues and the importance of seeking help when struggling with anxiety and other mental health