Silence Broken Analysis

On April 20, 1999, a massacre happened at Columbine high school in Littleton, Colorado. It took 17 years after the tragedy for one of the gunman’s mother, Sue Klebold, to come forward and speak about the incident. In the video documentary, Silence Broken: A Mother’s Reckoning, she is interviewed by Diane Sawyer on 20/20 and discusses her relationship with her son, what happened inside her home leading up to the tragedy, and about the victims. Diane Sawyer also discusses teenage mental health, the warning signs of a child in crisis, and what can be done to prevent the next shooting. Dr.Gregory Fritz, President of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, and FBI agent, Mary Ellen O’Toole, give their insight on those things in the

Eric had been a friend of Dylan’s since the 7th grade. Some might agree that Eric was what influenced Dylan the most. His dad was a retired Air Force Pilot and portrayed like a Leave It to Beaver dad. Dylan’s parents met Eric’s parents. Sue Klebold says they wouldn’t have allowed their children to play with anybody they had not met. Eric, too, was keeping a secret journal. His journal was filled with threats, revenge on people who have insulted him, people in flames, and decapitated heads. He called his writings “The Book of God.” Eric writes he is weak and needs guns. Sue Klebold was told that Eric Harris is prone to angry outbursts. She thinks it is an overreaction because he is so polite around her. Eric and Dylan play video games like Doom. They also like violent movies and made little videos of their own trying to be tough guys. At one point, Dylan asks his mom to buy him a gun. That would have been a red flag to most. She admits she use to go through his room and his things, but by his senior year she respected his privacy. No one knew the boys had gotten some guns and were hiding them. A girl at school that was old enough bought them 3 guns legally. They feel superior now with guns. Dylan writes in his journal that he has a choice to make. He can commit suicide or go NBK with Eric. NBK stands for Natural Born Killers and was a violent movie by

The Columbine Memorial is in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where the public can honor and remember the victims of the shootings at Columbine High School. All can reflect on the impact and lessons learned from this tragedy. We learn that Eric Harris was a psychopath and seemed to be the mastermind and driving force. He did not have a conscious. Most do not believe Dylan Klebold would have taken it this far without Eric in the picture. I think we all have learned from this that someone might be in need of help and not just going through a phase. While psychotherapy did not help Eric Harris, “all psychotherapies offer hope” (Myers & DeWall, pg.590). “Out of even our worst experiences, some good can come, especially when we can envision new possibilities” (Roepke & Seligman, 2015 as cited in Myers & DeWall,