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Violence Malcolm Gladwell
School shootings are a modern phenomenon and mostly involve young white men.
Unsurprisingly, following over 200 school shootings in America since 2013, this has raised eye
brows on the reasons behind tipping of this notion. Yet, given the ready availability of firearms
in America, this has been the main reason that has catapulted and made school shootings to be
overwhelming (02:02). Besides, beyond other facts, the great puzzle of religion has raised alarm
claiming that school shooters somewhat fit into some kind of cult. This way, their emotions are
channeled through, halting any attempt to push gun safety policy. And so, to counter this notion,
there has to be a caution against viewing the problem of gun violence, by creating an intense
security system. As well, more awareness in school ought to be emphasized via a prism of mass
shootings or mental illness. But the fact is, mass killings including school shootings in America
are most often done with guns, especially handguns, and most of them obtained legally
(Gladwell 12).
Concerning the typical school shooter, the LaDue's story reveals that the first major
school shooting cases were idiosyncratic and disconnected. In fact, LaDues threat was real,
where in this case; his obsessive preparation had created a powerful momentum toward action.
Again, LaDue was obsessive, and perhaps the reason why Gladwell chose him. LaDue insists n
applying analysis and logic to those things that most of us know that we are not supposed to be
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analytical or logical about. Moreover, the threshold shooters were in the grip of powerful
grievances, but LaDue doesn't seem to be having such real grievances. Malcolm Gladwell offers
a vital explanation of how school shootings catch on. He attempts to bring into focus the sense of
epidemic through consulting a study of riots by Mark Granovetter (02:30). He did this because
he wanted to comprehend why people engage in odd things with what they think is right.
The Granovetter's riot threshold theory states that sometimes, riots are more than
spontaneous outbursts. Granovetter contemplated that this hypothesis would be applicable to
provide a description of anything that results in strikes after elections, and a situation when
people decide to leave the certain party. Gladwell suggests that the best way to explain the
epidemics of school shootings is to go back on the Granovetterrian model and think of it as a
slow-motion, and as an ever-evolving riot, where every member's action makes sense when
combined with those of others. He, therefore, concluded that the likelihood of joining a certain
riot is determined by the number of people that are already involved. Evidently, psychopaths like
Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine shooters, is believed to have a threshold of zero
(04:33). Such people are predisposed to violence. They fantasize about murder for their own
benefits.
Gladwell elucidates the pessimism behind tipping in the ending payoff. According to
him, the fact is, school shooting and suicide are just but a few contagious Blue's Clues. By using
LaDue, Gladwell shows us how our ability to counterbalance negative tipping is diminished, in
particular when it comes to viewing the future generations, and this is the reason why school
shootings have increased. LaDue was probably a Maven. He would use this concept by
evaluating all the shooters context and how they were treated because how the society act is
how everyone will act regardless of whether you have a threshold of 0 or 99. Throughout his
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work, Gladwell shows the Power of Context by citing studies that are life-threatening, like
teenage smoking, in an attempt to build up reality.
Given all this information, there is the need to know that active shooter drills consist of
certain part of the national dialogue on the need to prevent school shootings through preparing
people for after such tragedy. In schools, as many have integrated to, ought to subscribe to anti-
bullying programs that aid in emphasizing the first approach of any student in order to develop
and maintain good relationships with them. As if that is not enough, there is the need to
strengthen gun laws. Show that you are stable mentally and have the right reasoning and you will
own a gun. Gun owners should undergo the necessary training before being mandated to own a
gun (Gladwell 33). Further, schools should be armed. That is, teachers should be given a defense
to discourage these psychopaths from intruding. All in all, as we start to contemplate on school-
based prevention, let us have in mind that all concerned citizens form the focal part of this
notion. This way, we cannot avoid the essence that the responsibility for school shootings is for
the culture and the nation at large.
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Work Cited
Gladwell, Malcolm. "Malcolm Gladwell Discusses School Shootings." The New Yorker Videos.
N.p., 2017. Web. 2 Aug. 2017. http://video.newyorker.com/watch/the-new-yorker-
festival-malcolm-gladwell
Gladwell, Malcolm. "Thresholds of violence: How school shootings catch on." The New Yorker:
Annals of Publc Safety (2015).
Gladwell, Malcolm. The tipping point: How little things can make a big difference. Little,
Brown, 2006.
