April 21 marked the second anniversary of the shootings at Columbine High School where 12 students and one teacher were killed and 23 others injured. Recent events in the news suggest that the nation is far from "finding closure" for the incident. To begin with, on Friday, preliminary statements by the chairman of the Governor's Columbine Review Commission criticized law officers' tactics during...

This two-part, seven-article series from the Chicago Sun Times originally published in October 2000 examines the phenomenon of random school shootings. Relying primarily on research done by the Secret Service, the articles examine the psyches, motivations, and profiles of adolescent school shooters from the last 25 years -- a varied bunch in terms of demographics -- and consider means to identify...

On March 9, 2001, the US Department of Defense Task Force on Domestic Violence released its first report and strategic plan. The 24-member Task Force was established last year with a three-year mission to formulate a long-term, strategic plan to eliminate domestic violence within the military. Users may read the full-text of the 118-page report at the Task Force site, which also offers additional...

This Website serves as a launch pad for the UNICEF report Domestic Violence Against Women and Girls released to coincide with the UN's special session on the progress of women's rights worldwide (see the June 9, 2000 Scout Report for a link to the main document of this session). According to the Domestic Violence report, "up to half of all women and girls in some countries have experienced...

With a bit of fanfare, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released on September 11 a new 104-page report which accused the entertainment industry of marketing violent material to children, even when that material is labeled for mature audiences only. The report was conducted after requests by President Clinton and some members of Congress in the wake of the school shootings in Columbine, CO. The...

An expelled student dressed in all black and carrying two guns opened fire at Gutenberg Gymnasium School in the eastern German city of Erfurt Friday morning, killing 17 people before shooting himself. This tragic incident caused the death of two young girls, 14 teachers, a police officer who responded to the scene, and the gunman. According to police chief Manfred Grube, the gunman, armed with a...

Last week in southeastern Wisconsin police officers spotted a young man breaking into vehicles in a local apartment complex, and it was subsequently discovered that he and several other youths had stolen approximately 100 vehicles before they were caught. The apparent inspiration for this string of car thefts was a popular video game, in which characters steal cars from parking garages, along with...