(Please excuse me for not knowing how to get the same effect as S with the questions in orange and larger font)
15. Shootings have occured at a number of high schools across the country. Did Nineteen Minutes make you think about these incidents in a more individual way than in a newspaper or seeing coverage on TV? In what ways did the novel impact your opinion of the parties generally involved in the school shooting...
At the time I was reading the book, the Viginia Tech shooting had just happened. When the killer was named, and his history was given - being an outcast from another country and never fitting in - it so reminded me of Peter. I didn't look at this killer the same way I would've looked at him before reading NM.
At first, I hated Peter and what he had done. But, as the story unfolded, and the reader was introduced to his father- the hunter, and his brother-the shallow, mean-spirited superstar as well as cruel classmates, I began to feel for Peter. The incident on the bus on the first day of school had me in tears - to think of that boy who could've been my son with the Superman lunchbox and the big kids throwing it out the window of the bus breaks my heart!
The author is masterful in telling the story of Peter's constant bullying, and how he truly "fell through the cracks" of the system. And how it all added up to a complete blowout/blowup/killing rampage after so many years. The reader gets it, and because of the many stories, you can't see Peter anymore as a cold-blooded killer, but as a profoundly wounded human being. He snapped and retaliated.
After reading this book, I think it is almost mandatory reading for teachers in all grade levels. To be on the lookout for an individual who is being bullied and outcast and to truly adopt a NO TOLERANCE policy could eventually make a difference in the life of the bullied, and save the lives of those who might've been killed, years later, in a rampage by an individual who is too far gone to stop.
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5 comments:
I agree completely. this would be great required reading for educators. it made me so sad when that teacher was telling peter's mother that peter didn't defend himself and needed to be "tough".
My eyes were opened after I read this book. It made me think long and hard about the banter that goes on in my classroom everyday. It is important too to have serious and specific consequences for when these things happen in school.
likewise, i think it should be required reading for PARENTS. how many go through their day without really talking to their children, asking genuine questions about how they are doing, taking the time to get to know their friends and checking in on them when they spend quiet hours alone in their bedroom? i felt deeply for lacy the whole way through the book - clearly she loved her son and simply didn't see the signs (or want to see them), but knowing that school shootings are a reality for this generation, i think there are warning signs that parents have a responsibility to keep an eye out for.
whoops, that was me posting, not steven! :) - melissa
Melissa, you are right about parents needing to read this book, too.
I recently told a co-worker about this book, and she said she COULDN'T read it because her children were highschoolers and the subject hit too close to home. (Her children are wonderful, well-raised and loved kids.) But I still feel the book gives such dimension to the outcast who snaps and more understanding to the reader as to why these horrible situations arise.
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