Group Leader: “Welcome everyone to our book club. Sense we have just finished ‘Columbine’ I have invited the author, Dave Cullen, to join us.”
Dave Cullen: ” I am very happy to be here with you today. The first thing that I want to talk about is why I have written Columbine. Part of it is because I wanted to know more. What happened to the kids that went through it? I had to know what drove the killers. I wanted people to know more about what had happened at Columbine. I had spent years searching through Eric and Dylan’s journals, searching for a reason why. They told me why, but it wasn’t an easy answer. I tried to map out the downward spiral that led these two boys to murder. Eric was a person in disguise. No one knew that they had a murderer among them, because he could blend in with his surroundings. Dylan is a captivating story. He had depression and I couldn’t really understand what his motives where. Until after I looked at life through his eyes, until after I had felt the pain that he had. The startling part about Dylan is that this could happen to any kid. Anyone with depression can take a sudden downward spiral, the question is which ones. Eric and Dylan reiched havoc with their plain, and caused more after they killed themselves. As you know, the events of Columbine caused a huge difficulty for the community. Some forgave and healed very fast. Others resented forgiving and healing, they felt like they were being forced into it. Many things can be learned from what happened at Columbine. For students like yourselves, if you hear something, even a rumor, tell a teacher. For the Community, don’t rush the healing of those that have dealt with a loss or after something so tragic. Columbine will forever be remembered, an a example to everyone.Do you guys have any questions?”
Student 1: “What started your interest in Columbine?”
Cullen: “I saw it on tv, and being a reporter I wanted to know exactly what was going on. I drove their and went as close as I could to Columbine, which was the Columbine Library. If you remember that is where some of the parents were waiting to hear what had happened to their kids. That is how I got the scenes of parents waiting for the buses, to see if their kid was on it or to fall deeper into despair. I was among them when it had happened.”
Student 2: ” Could more people have been saved?”
Cullen: “That can be difficult to say because it depends on the person. There were two police officers there that could have helped. We don’t really know for sure. And with the debate on the SWAT team, the shooting was pretty much wrapped up by the time they got their. They were acting under the information they had. Things could have been different if the students that had known anything suspicion had told someone. You can never really know when it comes to something like this.”
Student 4: “What about Dylan and Eric? Could better treatment or something prevented this from happening?”
Cullen: “Well… with Dylan maybe. He was in depression going through a hard spot, and the only one there was Eric. I’m not trying to point blame, and say that someone could have done better, but there might have been some way. With Eric, I don’t really know. As the book points out, he was angry with the world and felt like what he was doing would purify it. He thought that it was his destiny to play God. Sense he truly believed it, you can never know if something could have changed his mind.”
Student 3: ” Why exactly do you think Eric wanted to murder his classmates? Was it really because of jockes, or bullies, or any specific group of people?”
Cullen: “When it comes to Eric, you can’t try to pick an apple off the tree. Eric did talk about hating the jockes and bullies, but at one point he got mad a slow drivers. Eric fantasised over world destruction that would cause rebirth in his eyes. He said ‘I hate you all’, ‘I want to kill you all’. He was mad at everyone in the world. With Eric you can never fully understand his motives or thinking.”
Group Leader: “Sadly that is all the time that we have for today. Thank you so much Mr.Cullen for you time.”
Cullen: “Thank you all for letting me come.”
