NteQ Lesson Plan for SE Hinton’s the Outsiders

There are more differences than there are similarities between a traditional and an NTeQ (which stands for: iNtegrating Technology for inquiry) classroom. The main thing that distinguishes an NteQ classroom from a traditional classroom is that much of the power and responsibility of discovering and accumulating information is bestowed upon the student. In a traditional classroom, the teacher is the one responsible for gathering correct information to distribute to the students. In an NteQ classroom, the students are in charge of finding the information and putting it to good use through “tools”, namely, a computer. The tools used in an NteQ classroom are what sets them apart most significantly from a traditional classroom. In a traditional classroom, books, worksheets, and other basic supplies are the staples of education. With NteQ, technology plays a very important role in lesson plan implementation. The wonderful thing about this is that technology offers a great deal more information than one set of classroom books or worksheets can. The Internet alone has proven to be a tremendous source of information, and many schools have placed filters on their networks so that only viable information reaches their students.

PART II – NteQ Lesson Plan

LESSON TITLE: TEENAGE VIOLENCE, FRIENSHIP AND THE ROLES THEY PLAY IN S.E. HINTON’S THE OUTSIDERS
SUBJECT AREA(S): LANGUAGE ARTS GRADE LEVEL: (ADAPTABLE) 8-12
LESSON SUMMARY

The purpose of this lesson is to understand the complex social and emotional situations of the characters from S.E. Hinton’s novel The Outsiders. Many characters in the outsiders (Specifically Dallas Winston, and peripherally Johnny Cade – in an isolated self defense scenario – and other various members of both gangs) exhibit attitudes and actions of teen violence.
1. In groups of 2 or 3, students will begin by first reading excerpts from the article, “Why Teenagers turn to violence”, by Dr. Bruce Narramore (http://www.gospelcom.net/narramore/bk_102_violence2.htm). They will each be given a copy, and will use highlighter markers to mark important pieces of text.

2. Since this article (labeled below as APENDIX B) is rather lengthy, it has been divided up into 11 sections, which have been separated by a dotted line, plus an introduction. Students can take on 2 sections of the article per group, but this can be re-arranged at the teacher’s discretion.

3. Each group will be responsible for reading the article excerpts and presenting their findings to the class in a way that it relates to The Outsiders after completing the “Think Sheet” (labeled below as APENDIX A).

4. Students will use Microsoft Word to conduct a table or web diagram that:

Ã?Â· Compares and connects traits of teenage violence from the article with specific examples of behaviors, articles of speech, and actions that the boys exhibit in the novel.

Ã?Â· Gives positive solutions how these behaviors of the characters in the novel could have been prevented by their friends.

5. Students will print their table on an overhead slide, and use the projector to present their findings to the class.
Or instead of steps 4 and 5, students may:

6. Students will use Microsoft Publisher to construct a web diagram that:

Ã?Â· Compares and connects traits of teenage violence from the article with specific examples of behaviors, articles of speech, and actions that the boys exhibit in the novel.

Ã?Â· Gives positive solutions how these behaviors of the characters in the novel could have been prevented by their friends

7. Students will print their web on an overhead slide, and use the projector to present their findings to the class.
*Section 6 may need to be eliminated at the teacher’s discretion, as it contains items dealing with religion, God, and spirituality.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

By the end of this lesson, the students will:

Ã?Â· Be able to identify some of the main causes and reasons for teen violence.

Ã?Â· Be able to connect the rationale they have learned about teen violence to the actions, behavior, and speech of main characters from the novel being read.

Ã?Â· Be able to formulate rational and practical solutions that the peer group of the violent characters could have implemented to thwart the violent behavior.

Ã?Â· Be able to construct a visual aide using technology for their classmates that presents their findings and connections in a meaningful way.

STANDARDS

National: National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Language Arts Standards –

Ã?Â· 1 – Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

Ã?Â· 3 – Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

Ã?Â· 8 – Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

MATERIALS

Ã?Â· Teen violence “Think Sheet” Ã?Â· Copy of the article, “Why Teenagers Turn to Violence” by Dr. Bruce Narramore
Ã?Â· Copy of the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton Ã?Â· Blank overhead slides
Ã?Â· Computer with Microsoft Word and Publisher installed Ã?Â· Overhead projector
Ã?Â· Overhead markers for color coding if necessary Ã?Â· Highlighters

COMPUTER FUNCTIONS AND DATA MANIPULATION

Computer function and computer application data manipulation tasks to be completed by the students:
Constructing a table, Microsoft Word, Organizing data from both the novel and the article into table format, Constructing a web diagram, Microsoft Publisher, Organizing data from both the novel and the article into table format.

SPECIFY PROBLEM

“Have you ever stopped to consider why you get angry, sad, jealous, or happy? We all know that the human brain and the emotions that are held inside of it are complex and mysterious things. When we understand how our emotions work, we can have a better understanding of why we do the things we do.

We have already discussed the amount of social, emotional, and physical violence that takes place in this novel, but do we really know why all of this happens? Today we’re going to enlist the help of Dr. Bruce Narramore to figure out exactly why the boys in The Outsiders behave in some of the ways that they do.

We know how valuable friendship is, and how positive relationships between people can be good ways to keep us on track in life. We’re also going to explore some of the options that the other characters in the novel could have pursued in order to stop the violent behavior from happening. “

RESULTS PRESENTATION

Ã?Â· Students will present their results (Microsoft Word table or Microsoft Publisher web diagram) on an overhead film for the class. Students from each group will orally explain their ideas using their film as a guide.

MULTIDIMENSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Briefly describe the lesson activities. Begin with the Lesson Introduction or how you will introduce the problem and how you will address prerequisite skills, share learning objectives, and provide needed information. As you describe the computer activities, please include what students need to do before they go the computers, while they are at the computers, and what they do after they finish computer work. Descriptions of the supporting activities follow the computer activities. This form has space for three computer and three supporting activities. When you design your lesson, include the appropriate number of each for your particular lesson. After these activities are planned, describe the Culminating Activity, or how main ideas will be reviewed and/or final presentations given. When these components are planned describe the rotation plan – how will students rotate between the activities.

LESSON

Introducing the Problem: We will begin this lesson by having a 10 minute class discussion (or individual freewrite followed by discussion) about teen violence.

Ã?Â· What do you consider to be violent behavior?
Ã?Â· Have you witnessed violent behavior among teens on either a local or national level?
Ã?Â· Why do you think many teens are violent?
Ã?Â· How can this violence be stopped?

**Prerequisite Information**
Students will have completed reading the novel, The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton.
Students will be able to construct a table using Microsoft Word.
Students will be able to construct a web diagram using Microsoft Publisher.
Students will be able to print their findings on a blank overhead film.
Students will be able to operate an overhead projector.

COMPUTER ACTIVITIES

Activities to be completed:

Prior to going to computer
1. The class will have completed reading The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton.
2. The teacher will select students to work together in groups.
3. Each group will be responsible for reading 1-2 sections of the article, “Why Teenagers turn to violence”, by Dr. Bruce Narramore
4. The students will construct a rough draft of their webbing or table design, complete with what information will go where. They will need to do 3 things for this assignment: 1.Connect the psychology behind why violence occurs among teens (from the article) to specific incidents of violence from The Outsiders. 2. Cite specific examples of violent acts/inappropriate behavior from The Outsiders, complete with page #s. 3. Discuss these incidents among the group, and formulate a plan that the peer group of the violent character may have used to stop these bad behaviors.
At the computer
5. The group will delegate one person to do the typing, and another to dictate the information. Remaining group members will plan the presentation. If students decide to divide up the work another way, this is also acceptable as long as every group member contributes.
6. The students will construct a table in Microsoft Word or a web in Microsoft Publisher.
7. The students will print out one copy of the table or web on paper to insure that it looks like the group wants it to.
8. The students will print one copy of the web or table on overhead film.
9. The students will print out one copy of the table or web on paper to hand in for the teacher. After going to computer
10. Allow the overhead to dry for a few minutes.
11. Students will highlight any sections of the presentation you wish to stand out with the overhead markers.
12. The students will decide what information needs further explaining, and write out a script for your speakers to use.
13. The students will delegate presenters (this really should be all members of the group)
14. The students will present their findings to the class using the overhead projector.

SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES

Activities to be completed: 1. Students will design their table or web as a group, with all opinions counting equally.2. Students will discuss their table or web after its completion and decide which sections need highlighting for emphasis.3. Students will plan how to present their table or web, and discuss which areas need oral emphasis and explanation.

CULMINATING ACTIVITY

Each group will use the overhead projector to put their table or web on display. The groups will explain why they made various connections between Dr. Narramore’s article and actions that the characters in The Outsiders performed, as well as their solutions for preventing violent behavior. They will also explain why they have chosen their prescribed method of friendship therapy, and how these violent actions may have been thwarted.

ROTATION PLAN

This lesson will take 3 class periods to complete. Class periods are 45 minutes long. There are 5 student computers in the classroom and one laptop computer that is also utilized by the students, and an average of 25 students per class. If necessary, the teacher computer also may be used. Each class will divide into 5 groups of 4 students, with one group of 5 students. On day one and half of day two of the lesson, all 6 groups of students will be able to utilize the computers. Pending a technological malfunction, the teacher computer may be used. On the second half of day two and all of day three of the lesson, the students will be presenting their findings to the class. Since there are 6 groups of students who will need to present in a 45-minute period, each group will have 11.25 minutes to present their findings. On the second half of day two, two groups will present. On day three, the remaining 4 groups will present. Groups containing ESL students will go on the last day to allow them more time to work.

MANAGEMENT PLAN

Students will be responsible for following the classroom computer rules posted at each computer station:
1. Do not download ANYTHING on the computers – this includes pictures, spyware, programs, instant messenger programs etc.
2. No food (including candy and gum) or drinks at the computer stations. Crumbs and liquid can damage the keyboards and cause them to stick and not work.
3. Be gentle with the mouse – do not bang it, tap it, remove the ball, or disconnect it for any reason.
4. Always make sure to properly shut the computers down and place the dust cover over it when you are finished using it.
5. Choose the websites you visit carefully. Do not visit a site that does not pertain to the assignment you are working on or connect to the assignment in a meaningful way (no games, no IMing, no shopping, no pornography, etc.)

ASSESSMENT

Objective or Performance:
Beginning1 – Students will choose significant teen behaviors from the text of The Outsiders. These behaviors are central to the theme of teen violence. Teen behaviors selected from the text are insignificant in nature, do not show true understanding of character’s behaviors. Teen behaviors selected from the text are mild in nature, do not show true understanding of character’s behaviors. Teen behaviors selected from the text are significant to the central plot of the novel. Teen behaviors selected from the text are significant, relevant, and central to the plot of the novel.

Developing2 – Students will be able to analyze the rationale for acts of teen violence in The Outsiders using the article by Dr. Narramore. Students have read the article portions but have not succeeded in rationalizing why the characters in the novel have committed the violent acts. Students have read the article portions but have not clearly succeeded in rationalizing why the characters in the novel have committed the violent acts. Students have read the article portions and have succeeded in rationalizing why the characters in the novel have committed the violent acts. Students have read the article portions and have succeeded in rationalizing why the characters in the novel have committed the violent acts by connecting in writing the article and the novel.

Accomplished3 – Students will be able to prescribe effective friendship intervention techniques and apply them to the situations in The Outsiders. The friendship intervention is not positive, does not address the inappropriate behavior, and will not assist in solving the problem. The friendship intervention is somewhat positive, mildly addresses the inappropriate behavior, but will not assist in solving the problem. The friendship intervention is positive, addresses the inappropriate behavior, and assists in solving the problem. The friendship intervention is positive, shows compassion, addresses the inappropriate behavior, and assists in solving the problem permanently with minimal opportunity for relapses.

Exemplary4 – Students will be able to synthesize the information they have gathered from the text and article to design a table or web diagram showing their relationships. The information from the article, the text, and the prescribed acts of friendship do not connect in a clear model, relationships are not clearly presented, connections are not made. The information from the article, the text, and the prescribed acts of friendship connect minimally, relationships are not clearly presented, connections are difficult to find. The information from the article, the text, and the prescribed acts of friendship connect in a clear model, relationships are clearly presented, connections are not difficult to find. The information from the article, the text, and the prescribed acts of friendship connect in a very clear and organized model, relationships are clearly presented, connections are easy to find.

For All – Students will be able to construct a table in Microsoft Word or a web diagram in Microsoft Publisher Format is unclear, or prescribed programs have not been used or sections are blank. Prescribed programs have been used, but sections are blank. Prescribed programs have been used, no sections are blank. Format is clear, prescribed programs have been used, no sections are blank.

Students will present their findings to the class with the use of the overhead projector. Students do not have control or proficiency with the overhead projector. Students have minimal control or proficiency with the overhead projector. Students have control and proficiency with the overhead projector. Students have control and proficiency with the overhead projector. Can troubleshoot problems without assistance.

Appendix A – Think Sheet

Teen Violence and Friendship in The Outsiders “Think Sheet”

Group Members _______________________________ _______________________________
_______________________________ _______________________________

Brainstorm together what you know about teen violence from your own personal experiences, things you have seen in the news, television shows, movies, or in print, and consider the following when approaching your assignment:

Ã?Â· Who do you feel is responsible for controlling behavior of teenagers, why?

Ã?Â· How can responsible parties control their behavior?

Ã?Â· What are some possible consequences for violent or inappropriate behavior in teenagers? If any, who should enforce them?

Ã?Â· How would you prevent future incidents of violence in a teenager who has committed violent acts in the past?

Ã?Â· From your portion of the reading, why do teenagers become violent?

Appendix B – Article excerpt

Why Teenagers Turn to Violence
by Dr. Bruce Narramore, Psychologist
SCHOOL MASSACRE” and “DAY OF TERROR” screamed newspaper headlines reporting the carnage in Littleton, Colorado. It was the day two armed teenagers killed twelve fellow students, a teacher, and themselves, and wounded twenty-three more. That four-hour siege at Columbine High School Southwest of Denver, Colorado was the most violent day in the history of United States education. It followed six other murderous school shootings in less than two years. In all, these killings have taken the lives of more than two-dozen other students and teachers. In Jonesboro, Arkansas, the shooters were only eleven and thirteen years of age!

These disasters shock and sadden. We are shocked that such carnage can happen in America, let alone in towns like Paducah, Kentucky, and Springfield, Oregon. We sorrow for the young people whose lives were cruelly ended. We grieve for families who have lost a parent, children, friends and neighbors. And in the middle of the shocking horror of these seemingly senseless tragedies we ask, “How can this happen?” “What went wrong?” and, “What in the world is the matter with a child or teenager who would ruthlessly murder his schoolmates, teachers, parents, and others?” The answers are as different as the teenagers involved, but there are several very common characteristics of children and adults who commit these murderous acts.

1. These are angry adolescents.
You simply do not commit murder unless you are bitter, angry and resentful. Children and teenagers who kill have been living with rage for years. Sometimes it was obvious to those who knew them. They have lived counter culture lifestyles. Their dress, hair, music, looks and friends all tell us, “I’m angry and I don’t want to be like the rest of you.” “I don’t want to fit in.” “I don’t like the establishment.” Sometimes they run in cliques, unofficial clubs, or loosely or closely organized, so-called “Nazi” organizations. Their attitudes and actions reveal deep felt bitterness. The two Colorado youths who destroyed so many of their fellow student’s lives purportedly belonged to an informal group called the “Trench Coat Mafia.” Members wore ankle length, black trench coats, dark sunglasses, and black berets. They spent much of their free time playing war games and boasting of the guns they owned.

“I can’t believe he did it.
He was such a quiet person.”
Other angry adolescents hide their resentments so well that most observers are shocked when they turn to violence. For years, they have felt angry inside. They have lived with violent fantasies, books, television programs, and movies, but their outward behavior has shown few signs of their deep rage. People who know these teens nearly always remark, “I can’t believe he did it. He was such a quiet person.” Some even say, “He always seemed like a nice kid who never caused any trouble.” But as the Bible says, “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it”1 Beneath their quiet exterior an angry emotional battle has long been raging. When they become old enough and strong enough to carry out their vengeful fantasies, they do it.
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2. These are alienated adolescents.
The rage these teenagers harbor reveals a second nearly universal feeling among children who murder. They feel deeply cut off socially and emotionally. They usually just don’t fit in. And if they appear to others to fit in, inwardly, they do not believe they do. They do not feel loved, nor do they have a sense that they belong. Sometimes they feel strange or different compared to others. These painful feelings of alienation and rejection are usually the cause of their intense hatred. When you feel you don’t fit with anyone in this world, you become angry.
These alienated and angry feelings are nearly always rooted in social and/or family dynamics. For example, parents who feel socially or economically out of the mainstream, especially if they themselves are angry and resentful, will communicate their own sense of alienation to their growing children. Throughout their developmental years, these potentially antisocial adolescents are developing a world-view that says; “Other people aren’t like us.” “Don’t trust them. They have life too easy.” “We’re from the wrong side of the tracks.” “They think they are too good for us,” or “Those jocks (athletes) think they are so great.”
They may have . a preoccupation
with death, or show cruelty to animals.
Other times the alienation is within the family. One child grows up feeling different from his siblings, unwanted, unloved or resentful. Sometimes these children are physically or psychologically a bit different from early childhood, or even shortly after birth. They seem to be on another wavelength than other members of their family. They read different books or magazines. They listen to different music. They enjoy different television programs or movies. They may have a different sense of humor, a preoccupation with death, or show cruelty to animals. At school they either seem a little odd, angry, or on the fringes. Some push the limits by being overtly negative. Others are very quiet and creative, but their artistic or literary creations have a very strong fantasy component or a strong component of darkness, death, alienation or bizarreness.
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3. These are deeply troubled, tragic teenagers.
Anyone who kills is a troubled person. But teenagers who ruthlessly take the lives of fellow students in mass murders are generally even more psychologically disturbed than an adult who kills a person in a fit of passion or during a crime. These teenagers have such distorted emotional lives and thinking processes that they lack some of the very most basic ingredients of a normal person. At the core, they have a very deep inability to love or connect emotionally in any meaningful way with another human being. They neither feel loved, nor are they able to love. They are tragic, lost souls seeking to find a place in life. Lacking almost any deep human connectedness, life becomes a game, and killing someone evokes no more remorse than shooting a tin can or a target at the county fair. One of the shooters in Colorado, for example, is reported to have been laughing as he murdered his fellow students. Such callous disregard for human life has to reflect a deep, deep absence of the normal human capacity to love and care for others.
Some of these emotionally disturbed individuals have psychotic features; that is, they have serious distortions in their thought processes and their capacity to judge reality. Others have a long-standing failure to form deep emotional ties, a severe lack of guilt or remorse, and a tendency toward impulsive or uncontrolled actions.
Most of these disturbed adolescents have a horrible self-concept. Whether that is because of long years on the receiving end of parental neglect, hostility, or abuse, or for other unknown causes, these teenagers fundamentally do not like themselves. They hate others because they hate themselves and believe others have it better than they do so they envy them.
When children see parents fight and argue
and blame everyone else for their problems,
they learn to handle problems the same way.
When the Colorado killers focused much of their rage on athletes, they apparently envied the athlete’s success or stature and felt they could not live up to their abilities or status. Feeling inferior, less privileged or less gifted, they decided the best way to even the score was to strike out at someone they envied. And when they targeted minorities they were saying, “We disdain or despise you. We are better than you!” In both instances they were attempting to level the playing field in their own minds. They wanted to lift themselves up in their own distorted thinking by tearing others down-even to the point of death.
Nearly all violent teenagers come from violent homes or homes where there are serious emotional and relational problems, even if they are not apparent to those outside the family. When children see parents fight and argue and blame everyone else for their problems, they learn to handle problems the same way. In other families, there are silent battles, or emotionally uninvolved parents, or serious mental confusion. It is not uncommon to read that the parent of a teenager who murdered others says, “He didn’t mean to hurt anyone.”
Understandably, parents of these children would be horrified and devastated and have difficulty accepting what their child has done. But one cannot help but wonder what kind of thinking and relating was going on in a home where, after a teenager has murdered five people and wounded ten others, the parent says, “He didn’t mean to hurt anyone.” When parents are this incredibly unaware or naive or prone to make excuses for their children, is it any wonder the children feel confused? And how can a child learn to be a responsible, mature person in this environment?
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4. Many violent teenagers are seeking to feel powerful, important, admired, or big.
They have vivid fantasy lives and dream of proving how powerful and potent they can be. Since they feel so alienated, unloved, and different, they try to silence their distressing feelings by turning to illusions of power and importance. They don’t realize, of course, that their presumed strength is actually incredible weakness. Instead of having the strength and courage to face their hurts, admit their needs, and seek help from God and others, they turn to a pseudo strength-the pseudo-strength of violence.
This search for power is apparent in the military-type uniforms some members of fringe groups wear. It can be seen in Nazi dress, obsession with guns, identifying with angry music, or in the angry friends and fantasies that potentially violent adolescents harbor in their minds. In a perverse sort of way, violent teenagers also imagine that others will admire them. They believe their plans are incredibly brilliant and that they will demonstrate their exceptional intelligence, superiority, cunning, and power by showing that they can outsmart others and commit horrible murders. Since they idealize destructive men like Hitler, or devious, malicious men, they assume that others will admire their imagined “strength,” “cunning,” “intelligence,” or “power.”
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5. Some acting-out teenagers are suffering from neurological problems or attention deficit hyperactivity disorders.
While such physiologically based problems do not excuse hateful, destructive acts (since most people with these difficulties do not commit murder), the physical difficulties can help us understand why some teenagers act the way they do. To live maturely, we need to feel at least reasonably good about ourselves and others, and we need to learn to control our impulses and our negative emotions.
When hyperactive children and those
with attention deficits become upset,
they tend to act without thinking.
Children with neurological difficulties that make it hard for them to learn, or to concentrate and pay attention, can have great difficulties feeling good about themselves in our competitive world. They also often have trouble controlling their thoughts, feelings and responses.
When most of us become upset, we try to calm ourselves so that we don’t do anything irresponsible. But when hyperactive children and those with attention deficits become upset, they tend to act without thinking. Recent research actually shows neurological differences in the brains of many criminals who impulsively act out crimes of violence. The combination of feeling negatively about themselves, being angry, and being impulsive, increases the likelihood that they will engage in various kinds of antisocial activities.
They have grandiose and bizarre fantasies
of being superior to everyone else.
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6. Adolescents who turn to violence are also spiritually confused or lost.
Most have no real relationship with God at all. In fact, their weird clubs or odd choices of friends typically substitute for a relationship, not only with healthy people but also with God. Lacking any spiritual purpose and direction, they attempt to create meaning in life by building their own view of how the world should be. They decide who the bad people are-“sinners” who are different from them. They decide who the good people are-the underdogs or inferior feeling people like them. And then they decide to even the score. In essence, they have created their own mini-religious worldview. They have become their own omnipotent gods, deciding who should live and who should die. They may not be psychotic like mentally ill people who believe they are Jesus Christ. But they do have grandiose and bizarre fantasies of being superior to everyone else. They have an arrogant pride in their own devious plans. And they have their own completely distorted way of understanding the world.
Once in a while, these disturbed individuals actually have faith in God and may even be born-again Christians. When they are, however, their Christian experience is extremely distorted by their mental confusion and their emotional pain. Even if they are active in a church or other spiritual activities, they are not personally and emotionally connected to God and others in a healthy way. They may even wrench a few verses of Scripture out of context to justify their distorted thinking.
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7. Teenagers who kill have lost hope for any enjoyable, meaningful life.
We see this rampant in ghetto areas and among gang members who will cavalierly shoot another human being as an initiation rite. Feeling cut off from the larger society, hopeless about ever getting ahead in life, and with nothing much to live for, they see no reason not to steal or kill or participate in a drive-by shooting. Many of these teenagers simply do not expect to live beyond their twenties so when you try to dialogue with them, they don’t really seem to worry about dying. They have no hope anyway.
The only way they know to mask their
hidden hurts and their longings to be held,
known, and loved is to quite caring.
They have given up the dream of a better life. They have given up hope that their parents and other significant people in their lives will understand. And they have given up hope that they will ever be happy. Some school murderers even plan to kill themselves at the end of their murderous rampage. They have absolutely no additional desire to live.
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8. Having lost all hope for a decent life, many violent teenagers no longer care.
After years of feeling different and unloved, they have now given up hope. They no longer care about themselves, others, or the consequences of their actions. The only way they know to mask their hidden hurts and their longings to be held, known, and loved is to quit caring. So, after hundreds or even thousands of times at being ignored or hurt or misunderstood, they can’t stand the pain of trying to connect again. So they mask their last vestiges of human love and concern, put on a tough, uncaring front, devalue all of life, and choose to leave at least one mark on this world, even if it is tragically hurtful for others.
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9. Many violent teenagers live in subcultures that don’t value human life.
Although topics like euthanasia and abortion repeatedly point to a decline in the perceived value of human life, the problem actually goes much deeper. Millions of people in America scarcely value human life at all. As our culture becomes less Christian, people increasingly lose the only solid foundation for a sense of dignity, worth and value. Instead of seeing every person as created in the image of God, many now see themselves and others as chance beings in a meaningless universe.
When this devaluing of human life is combined with spiritual lost-ness, despair about the future, an incapacity to love or feel love from another human, you can see why some might turn to murder. They are depressed. They don’t value human life. They have no meaning or purpose. They have no hope. And they have no deep feelings of love and concern for others. So why not lash out and kill? The life of another human being means nothing to them, and neither does their own.
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10. There are often precipitating factors that lead to adolescent violence.
Sometimes violence is triggered merely by children becoming old enough to gain access to a gun and the ability to plan and execute their violent fantasies. Other times, acquaintances and family members recall significant changes in the mood, friends, clothing, or use of alcohol and drugs in the months leading up to the violent outbursts. A Southern California student who recently killed himself had been a top school student until the year before he committed suicide. Then his grades fell, he changed his friends, and he began using and selling drugs. Apparently, he had felt sad and confused for years. When being a straight A student did not bring him any satisfaction, he turned to drugs, negative peers, and increasing rebellion. The drugs and peer influence added fuel to the fire of his smoldering anger. Then, when he was caught with drugs on campus, he violently ended his own life.
Violence can also be triggered by the loss
of a loved one, most likely a girlfriend.
This pattern of long-standing inner sadness and emotional isolation from friends and family, followed by increasing withdrawal or association with counterculture or fringe friends, along with actual or perceived ridicule or alienation from peers, often becomes a deadly mix. During the year before the Colorado massacre, for example, the potential murderers had adopted the long hair and black clothing of the “Gothic” look, clearly identifying themselves as being profoundly against their culture. By joining a group of similarly disaffected youth, they found one place to belong. But their friends only added to their disdain and hatred of others. More and more, they were on the receiving end of ridicule from other students because of their fringe attitudes, dress and actions. Consequently, they decided to gain revenge.
Violence can also be triggered by the loss of a loved one, most likely a girlfriend. When a teenage boy, who deep down feels unlovable, finds someone who cares for him, he is like a starving man who has just found food and water. But in time she tires of his attention and may even become troubled by his possessiveness, moodiness, or other aspects of his personality. When she breaks off the relationship, it is more than he can handle. He feels abandoned, depressed and alone. He is enraged that his sole support would abandon him.
The combination of depression, rejection and revenge apparently were the major motives when a seventeen-year-old Mississippi student went on a shooting spree and murdered his mother, his ex-girlfriend and one of her friends in 1997. After the killings, the student seemed genuinely remorseful. He sobbed and apologized and said, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry,” and then told how devastated he was when his girlfriend broke up with him. He said, “I didn’t eat. I didn’t sleep. I didn’t want to live. It destroyed me.”
Notice that he said, “It destroyed me.” That telling comment reflects one of the best ways of understanding the mind of teenage killers. They feel they have been destroyed by life. Murder is their way of getting justice. Since they feel psychologically and emotionally destroyed, they want to destroy others.
The average child sees over 10,000 murders on
television before he graduates from high school.
Murdering someone you love because that person rejects you seems senseless to most of us. When we love someone, why would we want to hurt or kill that person? But the potential murderer is thinking and feeling on a different level. His “love” is more “need” than love. His focus is on being loved and receiving love, not on being a loving person. And his focus is on himself, not his girlfriend. Consequently, when she breaks off the relationship, his true feelings come out. He was in the relationship for what he was receiving, not for what he was giving or for mutual love. And when he no longer receives it, he is so hurt and resentful and so convinced that he will never have another love that he strikes out in rage. Again, he feels destroyed so he destroys.
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11. Finally, we live in a society where violence has become an accepted part of our entertainment industry and an acceptable way to solve conflicts.
What can we say when the average child sees over 10,000 murders on television before he graduates from high school? And what can we say when nearly every day we can pick up a local newspaper, or turn on the television and receive reports of one murder after another at home and thousands of deaths by violence abroad? The accumulation of these television murders, violent films, and daily reporting of death leave their impact. We become accustomed to violent death. All of us become somewhat inoculated to tragedy until it comes to our own doorstep. But for troubled teenagers who are already prone to violence, this deadening of caring removes one of the last barriers to carrying out their angry, vengeful fantasies. In fact, rage music, murderous films and violent video games can not only give disturbed minds permission to kill-they even provide ideas and practice in how to do it.
Now let’s tie this entire picture together. Teenagers who kill are universally unhappy. They feel alienated from others, odd, different, or left out. Emotionally, they feel unloved and they have not developed the capacity to form healthy emotional relationships, usually even within their families. Consequently, they do not care for other people. They are either spiritually disinterested, rebellious, or confused and are extremely resentful and angry. Their anger comes from feeling hurt, wounded, rejected, or abandoned. These teenagers have lost or failed to develop a regard and respect for other people, and they tend to live in their own world, either with a few other fringe friends, or in their fantasies, secret thoughts and plans. Although they occasionally turn to violence without any warning, there were nearly always serious danger signs and symptoms. Those include increasingly bizarre thoughts and feelings, serious drops in grades, preoccupation with thoughts of violence, desires for revenge, feelings of persecution, grandiose thoughts, and identification with fringe groups, guns, and violent historical figures. Given this mixture of painful feelings and confused thoughts, all it takes to trigger an explosion is one serious trauma or rejection, one final bit of ridicule, one song glorifying violence, one horrible movie example, or one “friend” to egg them on to action.