Gun Violence

Read more about the article The Novel mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine Captures the Point of View of a Child with Asperger’s Syndrome

The Novel mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine Captures the Point of View of a Child with Asperger’s Syndrome

Motivated by her concern after the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007, Kathryn Erskine wrote mockingbird (mok′ ing-bûrd) to examine how families cope after a sudden tragedy.  Erksine’s first-person narrator is a ten-year-old girl with Asperger’s syndrome named Caitlin Ann Smith.  Caitlin is a talented young artist, but her life is difficult.  Caitlin’s mother died of cancer, and her older brother Devon died after a shooting at his high school.  The two siblings were very close, and Devin had helped his sister to deal with the complex and confusing world around her.  Caitlin’s father is paralyzed by grief after he loses his son, and he has trouble parenting Caitlin. (more…)

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We Need to Curb Gun Sales to Make Schools Safe

The modern world has many tensions and much violence. While Americans often can’t control fighting abroad, I hope that we can take steps to curb violence in our own country. Recently, gunmen have attacked many educational institutions and killed people. I’m frustrated that we are not trying harder to control the spread of guns and that we have not passed laws that make it illegal to carry a gun outside the home unless one is hunting. Even loaded guns inside of homes are problems: people are often maimed or killed in homes by impulsive or accidental shootings. (more…)

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