Frank DeAngelis

What do you guys think about Frank DeAngelis? Personally, I think he is in denial about how bad things were at his school.
I'm not putting the blame on him but he was obviously oblivious to the culture of his school.

Personally, I don’t care for him. He does seem to be in denial and remembers some fairy tale school from the late 90s. Maybe he watched too many Saved by the Bell episodes. He was a coach originally and held onto that mentality I believe. I too do not blame him for columbine, but I believe what the school tolerated and turned the other cheek to was another puzzle piece that made the columbine picture complete. I think what bothered me in his book he claims that the 12 students were “his kids” but never says that (despite the horrible acts Eric and Dylan did) they are “his kids” as well. You can’t pick and choose your kids “Mr. De”, I’m just saying.

SenSpiritedAway wrote:

I think what bothered me in his book he claims that the 12 students were “his kids” but never says that (despite the horrible acts Eric and Dylan did) they are “his kids” as well. You can’t pick and choose your kids “Mr. De”, I’m just saying.

Have you posted a review/ your thoughts on DeAngelis' book anywhere on the forum? I haven't read it yet, and likely won't until my library gets it, and I'd love to hear from someone who has.
If you're so inclined, there's a thread for his book where you can post your thoughts on it. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

You won't find very many people on here that think of him in a positive light.
He seemed to come off as fake when talking about how much he cared about all of "his kids".
It's common knowledge at this point that the jocks had essentially free reign of the school under his time as acting principal. Bullying also seemed to be rampant during that time, with not much being done about it.

If he cared about the students as much as he claimed, one would assume the issues I've stated would of been immediately taken care of, but we all know that wasn't the case.

He definitely lives with a lot of guilt, and to be honest he should.
I can't say for certain if his actions would of changed the outcome of Columbine. Probably not, but who knows.

Regardless, he should of treated everyone as an equal and not favored the jocks and the more well off students like they were better than anyone else.
Status was a huge part of Columbine. If you weren't in the inner circle, it seems as the administration would just scoff at any issues you were having.

As said above, not many people here are a fan. I'm certainly one of those people. He did seem to favorite certain types at the school. To me, Columbine had the perfect type of environment for a school shooting or some other type of tragedy, but he just seemed blind to that. You could argue that it was because school shootings weren't so common in '99. Yet, I feel he still should have seen that the high school had such a toxic environment for the students attending.

thelmar wrote:

SenSpiritedAway wrote:

I think what bothered me in his book he claims that the 12 students were “his kids” but never says that (despite the horrible acts Eric and Dylan did) they are “his kids” as well. You can’t pick and choose your kids “Mr. De”, I’m just saying.

Have you posted a review/ your thoughts on DeAngelis' book anywhere on the forum? I haven't read it yet, and likely won't until my library gets it, and I'd love to hear from someone who has.
If you're so inclined, there's a thread for his book where you can post your thoughts on it. [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

I believe I left an early review of it awhile ago. I’m still making my way through it (which is strange for me because I usually devour books). It’s very slow going for me and the first part is all about him growing up and all that. The only reason I’m reading it is because I got it from my library. Anyways, as soon as I wrap it up I’ll leave a thorough review.

SenSpiritedAway wrote:

Personally, I don’t care for him. He does seem to be in denial and remembers some fairy tale school from the late 90s. Maybe he watched too many Saved by the Bell episodes. He was a coach originally and held onto that mentality I believe. I too do not blame him for columbine, but I believe what the school tolerated and turned the other cheek to was another puzzle piece that made the columbine picture complete. I think what bothered me in his book he claims that the 12 students were “his kids” but never says that (despite the horrible acts Eric and Dylan did) they are “his kids” as well. You can’t pick and choose your kids “Mr. De”, I’m just saying.

This statement basically encapsulates my feelings. I think Frank D had this thought of what HS was. I don't think he ever took the time to try and figure out why the Eric and Dylan "characters" of the school felt as they did. 20 years later I truly don't feel like Frank D has taken the time to figure out why Eric and Dylan felt the way they did and why they took action. This may be shallow of me, and forgive me if it is, but I think Frank D saw the school through the eyes of the "cool kids" and the "popular" kids, idk in every interview I see of him he just gives that vibe like he has never took the time to try and see the world through Eric's eyes.
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The saddest part is all they wanted was to be accepted by their peers. I know they are all kids and don't know any beter, but it had to hurt both of them to know noone really cared about them. I'm not excusing what they did either, I'm just trying to get inside their heads. They felt alone even though they had a couple of friends.