In the spring of 2019, MBU Timeline staff members compiled an eight-part series in commemoration of the Columbine Shooting’s 20th anniversary, reflecting on the tragedy and covering various topics related to school shootings in the U.S. Three weeks later, I found myself 45 minutes from Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado.
Photos by Stacy Rohan
On April 20, 1999, Columbine seniors Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris killed 13, injured 24 and then committed suicide. The high school reopened its doors after four months of extensive remodeling and raised the American flag that had flown at half-staff since the shooting.
In the U.S., school shootings have grown in frequency in the last five years, forcing Americans to search for the internal cause of these horrific acts of violence. We blame everything from TV shows to video games to movies, but is that valid? Are these credible concerns?
The increase in school shootings since Columbine 20 years ago has raised concern in the U.S. and triggered endless questions, many regarding the killers and what leads them to committing such gruesome crimes.
Columbine shooters, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed 13, injured more than 20 and initiated a permanent change in America’s sense of security in schools. While millennials, Generation Xers and baby boomers grew up in a pre-Columbine era, Generation Z has never known a world in which school safety was the norm.
To ensure that students have the best chance of surviving an active shooter situation, several government entities such as the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA have provided training resources and information to students.
Here are some interesting facts about MBU Timeline, the student newsmagazine of Missouri Baptist University, in St. Louis:
*Our mission statement is: MBU Timeline is the student news network of Missouri Baptist University, a private Christian university that embraces the essential core value of “social change through service and leadership.”
*The Bible verse that drives our mission is 2 Timothy 2:15 (Worldwide English Version): “Tell the true message in the right way.”
*The WordPress website has been up since late-fall 2013. We average about 3,000 sessions and about 5,000 pageviews per month.
*Our stories and galleries get as few as 40 or 50 hits, or as many as 8,000 hits.
*We have readers in every state and more than 90 countries around the world. We have several readers in South America, the United Kingdom, India and Australia.
*Most of our readers are in Missouri, followed by Illinois, California and Texas.
*We do not accept advertising as we are a not-for-profit online newsmagazine.
*We welcome contributors from all walks of MBU life, regardless of your major. Reach out to us on Twitter at: @mbutimeline.
