The more media coverage I've seen over the past week about the events at Columbine High School, the more I've felt that it was time to come up with some writing assignments that asked students to think what they know about conflict and violence, the ways that they react when they face conflict or violence, and the ways that society discusses conflict and violence. I've written the questions as generally as possible, but you may need to adapt them for your specific situation. Instead, I've tried to focus on more active assignments that as writers to consider ways to improve their community and ways to interrogate the violence and conflict that we see in the world around us. When a violent action is reported publicly, there's a move to blame someone or something for what has happened. Here are three ways that people talk about blame and responsibility for violence in American society.
People kill people.
When students see violence glorified on television shows and at the movies, there's little wonder that they commit similar acts of violence. Write a paper that reconciles these ideas that are used to account for violence in our community. After you've gathered your list, share your list with others in your class. Identify the items that appear on the most lists. They're most likely to be the issues that most need to be addressed by your school's administrators or your local school board.