If you're younger, how did you first hear of Columbine?

I'm 26 and I don't have any memories of news reports of Columbine at the time (doing the math, I was 5 at the time).

The first concrete memory I have of knowing what Columbine was was reading Roger Ebert's review of Elephant. I was about 11 and I had a book that had his reviews in it.

Quote :

"Events like this," I said, "if they are influenced by anything, are influenced by news programs like your own. When an unbalanced kid walks into a school and starts shooting, it becomes a major media event. Cable news drops ordinary programming and goes around the clock with it. The story is assigned a logo and a theme song; these two kids were packaged as the Trench Coat Mafia. The message is clear to other disturbed kids around the country: If I shoot up my school, I can be famous. The TV will talk about nothing else but me. Experts will try to figure out what I was thinking. The kids and teachers at school will see they shouldn't have messed with me. I'll go out in a blaze of glory."

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Before this time I heard jokes about the trench coat mafia from older kids but I didn't know what that referred to.

Wikipedia articles and YouTube where how I found out what it was. I was 9 or 11 I think.

I just turned 22 and I was six and a half months when Columbine happened. I found out about it when I was 16 in 11th grade, I’m pretty sure I randomly came across a YouTube video one day.

As a 27 year old (and the oldest person so far in this thread) I came across Columbine after remembering the Virginia Tech shooting and the connection the two events shared.

i found it due to a top ten video on youtube that had the cafeteria footage in it. i remember being scared by it, but i found it interesting at the same time. now i'm here, 5-6 years later.

Honestly back in 8th grade my buddy made a columbine joke than I looked it up watched zero hour than got me interested in it. LMFAO

Michael Moore- Bowling for Columbine (what a surprise).

By that time I believed in many of the myths that Eric and Dylan were in the TCM, targeted jocks, etc.

I wanted to understand more, and so it begun.

I thought I was done with it, but that didnt happen


Many years later I got interested in the goth subculture and I read how Columbine was wrongly associated with Columbine. And then the Stoneman Douglas HS shooting happened and, after that, the one in Florida.

Also, you had the article written by Andrew Gumbel, explaining how Columbine was misunderstood.

I was 3 on the same day it happened (I was born on April 20th, 1996) but I juste remember seeing it vaguely on french tv.
Otherwise, my mom is a huge TCC fan, so basically I was into since my very young age, I know Columbine since « forever », I was into but this year (2020) with the covid crisis & my work closed, I’m much into & take more interest than I used to.
And luckily it wasn’t on my sight when I was a middle schooler (phew)

I was pretty angry as a teen, so I mistakenly identified with the narrative of the misfits taken revenge.


Of course, much older and with a different influence now than then, and different perspectives on things.

Of course, by now I could care less how much I dont fit in
I take it more as a compliment. Stuff like that got easier over time and I think it does to a lot of people that feel different.

But back than it was very personal and I didnt feel happy about this at all.

The revenge against the jocks narrative kind of sparked an emotion, I guess.

I think by now, its just that theres so much public informatoon, and because terrorism/school shootings are extremely rare.

On a side note, too much emphasis on this is not good for me. I need to switch off, from time to time.

Youtube probably. I watched a lot of True Crime related videos and Top 10 videos. I think the video was 'Top 10 Most Offensive Videogames' or something like that. It had Super Columbine Massacre RPG in it. That's probably how I found out about Columbine in maybe 2014/15. I only started researching it in around January of this year and have learnt a lot more about it than I did.

I'm 22. I found out about the case when I was in 12th grade. The Erfurt school massacre was mentioned on TV and I went on wikipedia to learn more about it. The article mentioned Columbine as the "inspiration"and I went down a veeeery deep rabbit hole after that lol.

I was 9 I think when I first read about it, but when I got real into true crime when I was 11 or 12 I came across Columbine again but I wasn't into it until late July 2020. I don't know how I got into it but I just did.

I actually remember.

I was in 6th Grade (2006) and one teacher brought it up in class and I listened to the call on YouTube. Early hay days of YouTube.

Why I never heard anything about this in Elementary School, yet they taught us Sex Ed as early as 5th Grade, I don't know.

I was 5 when Columbine happened. No memory of it occurring until 6th Grade (see previous post.)

Back in 5th Grade (2005, a year before 6th Grade when I found out about Columbine) the class taught us alcohol and drug use like a police cop came over to the class.

And he was like NEVER USE ALOCHOL AND HAND SANTIZER HAS ALOCHOL IN IT.

And made two of the kids cry because they were playing with the hand sanitizer.

I'm amazed I didn't find out about Columbine sooner, as a closing remark.

i think i first heard about it online, it was either a youtube video or tumblr. i was 13. i'm not american though, and there had never been a mass shooting in my country, so i was shocked to find out these kind of things happen.

I was alive when it happened, and in fact; I was in 7th grade, and in-class when it was announced over the intercom that it had happened and they asked us to have a moment of silence for them. It was worldwide news, I am from Australia.

But I took interest in it when I was in 12th grade and we had to study bowling for columbine for English.

Wikipedia.
Though back in 2013 year after Sandy, I found out about this forum.

I'm 21- was born just a couple months after it happened... I don't recall when I learned of the incident, but it feels like something I've always known about? It was probably in middle school or high school, since all of us at that age were probably at least aware of it as a historical event. I didn't take an interest in it specifically though until after seeing Bowling for Columbine in a college course.

EDIT: I wanna add that there was a foiled school shooting at my high school. Two kids had plotted a bunch of stuff. No clue how close it was to happening, but I don't doubt they could've gotten their hands on weapons. We lived in a very pro-gun, rural area and firearms were ubiquitous. Once some teachers caught wind and foiled the plan, it became an open secret of sorts that spread through the school. This was my Sophomore year, so maybe it was around then I first heard of it?

To provide a more specific answer: Michael Moore, of course. Thats when I First heard about Columbine

I'm 18 and I'm not from the US, I first heard about it in class when I was 16. We were talking about school terrorists and the teacher played a video that mentioned Eric and Dylan. However I didn't become interested until my best friend told me about columbine cosplayers or sth and I wanted to learn more about the shooters.

I'm 18 so I wasn't even born when it took place, I'm from Europe as well.
I absolutely hate to say it, but the first time I ever heard "Columbine", was in Eminem's "Rap God", I was maybe about 11 years old? I kind of figured that it was about a shooting because of the lyrics, but never really cared to look further into it.

I became really invested in the case about two years ago, but prior to that, I had no idea about the victims, the shooters or even where in the U.S it took place. I probably stumbled upon some random youtube video with the theme and it sparked my interest. Here in Sweden, no one really knows about Columbine. Not even adults.

i heard about columbine in 2012, after the sandy hook shooting.
the shooting occurred near my birthday, which is why i guess i was interested in it.
so after the shooting, i started researching and stuff, and i then heard of columbine.
about 5 or 7 years later, i heard it again, and i was interested in it.
in 2018, i met this person, and we happened to be going through the same stuff.
we became friends on august 7th 2018. and that was the day i joined the tcc.
she introduced me to a lot of stuff.
unfortunately, she isn't into it anymore, but i stuck with it :>

I guess americans should be surprised that Columbine is known outside of Europe.

As for the Columbine lyrics that Eminem wrote back than I think they are pretty messed up, yet, I dont think he would have the same standpoint now than back than.

People believe that the Columbine- killers where goths that targeted bullies. Frankly, they werent goths and Im not really sure exactly to what extent they were outcasts. I do believe that they might have been to some extent, but not in the sense that Brooks Brown suggests or that people though of them back than.

In regards to the bullying there are plenty of contradicting statements. I dont think you will find the answer but thats Just my point of view.

I certainly think that environmental factors as well as emotional and mental problems played a role in why they did it.

Norwegian wrote:

I guess americans should be surprised that Columbine is known outside of Europe.

As for the Columbine lyrics that Eminem wrote back than I think they are pretty messed up, yet, I dont think he would have the same standpoint now than back than.

People believe that the Columbine- killers where goths that targeted bullies. Frankly, they werent goths and Im not really sure exactly to what extent they were outcasts. I do believe that they might have been to some extent, but not in the sense that Brooks Brown suggests or that people though of them back than.

In regards to the bullying there are plenty of contradicting statements. I dont think you will find the answer but thats Just my point of view.

I certainly think that environmental factors as well as emotional and mental problems played a role in why they did it.

I share the same general opinion. They seem to have been in the lower 50% of the students in terms of popularity, but I did not get the impression that they were the most bullied people in CHS. If you read the interviews wit students that Langman did (and other interviews with people who were there in 99 and 98), one can get the impression that the jocks of the class of 98 bothered and pushed around pretty much everyone.

Sabratha wrote:

Norwegian wrote:

I guess americans should be surprised that Columbine is known outside of Europe.

As for the Columbine lyrics that Eminem wrote back than I think they are pretty messed up, yet, I dont think he would have the same standpoint now than back than.

People believe that the Columbine- killers where goths that targeted bullies. Frankly, they werent goths and Im not really sure exactly to what extent they were outcasts. I do believe that they might have been to some extent, but not in the sense that Brooks Brown suggests or that people though of them back than.

In regards to the bullying there are plenty of contradicting statements. I dont think you will find the answer but thats Just my point of view.

I certainly think that environmental factors as well as emotional and mental problems played a role in why they did it.

I share the same general opinion. They seem to have been in the lower 50% of the students in terms of popularity, but I did not get the impression that they were the most bullied people in CHS. If you read the interviews wit students that Langman did (and other interviews with people who were there in 99 and 98), one can get the impression that the jocks of the class of 98 bothered and pushed around pretty much everyone.

I wonder why Brooks Brown said they were the most unpopular students in school. I guess he had some agenda he wanted to push.

I wonder how many of Brown's stories were true. Eric said he liked to make shit up of course.

myshame wrote:

I wonder why Brooks Brown said they were the most unpopular students in school. I guess he had some agenda he wanted to push.

I wonder how many of Brown's stories were true. Eric said he liked to make shit up of course.

That's always hard to assess. I'm not sure if that talk Brooks and Eric supposedly had in the parking lot really happened. And if it did happen, did it happen like what Brooks described.

Guess nobody will ever know.

As for why Brooks resented things the way he did? I think Brooks and his parents had more beef with the school than most people. I also think that bullying and born-again-Christianity really did bother Brooks more than they bothered E&D. To some extent, in his book we are just seeing CHS through Brook's eyes and his lens.

I think Brooks (and from the opposite end of things the Scott family) really blew the christian/goth/satanist thing out of proportion.

I just found out from a top 10 YouTube video where the yearbook picture appeared, before that I had never heard of columbine or anything similar. It's curious how after seeing that I got so immersed in the case when it could have been something that I could have completely ignored.

From the video from the YouTube channel Você Sabia? about Columbine, made in the July 2016.

I was 6 when it happened but knew nothing of it. When I was a teenager I sort of knew of it but never looked into it.
I remembered me and my cousin were getting into the goth culture. She started adding loads of goths and weird people on Facebook. One of them was this girl who made her facebook public and would write love letters to Eric. She would post a photo a day of him to the point that she made you think she took those photos. She was the definition of a columbiners. I called her out for it but got told I would never understand. That Eric was misunderstood and needs love and attention. Right...

It was only when the 19th anniversary came up that I got really interested in it. One of the documentaries was recommended on my youtube. So thought another crime documentary for me to watch/ listen while in work. I got interested and wanted to learn more about why this might have happened and the signs.

I found out about Columbine in one of those Top 10 videos on YouTube; Cassie's (real) last words were put in the video. I briefly looked it up but didn't start really researching it until after Parkland happened, when I was 17.

I was 12 in the spring of '99, so I'm sure I heard about it the day it happened. I can't remember many specific thoughts I had about it at the time, though.

I can't recall exactly when, but even in middle school I had a vague understanding of it, probably absorbed from references over the years and edgy youtube comment sections I read.

I only first studied it in summer of 2019, though. Saugus was the first attack I was actively observing as it happened. I remember switching from website to website for hours afterward piecing it together, and I've been fascinated by mass attacks ever since.

I first learned of columbine at the age of 12 in a book called True Crime by Nick Yapp i purchased at a car boot sale. As i was just first starting to get into true crime but at that time i was only mostly focusing on the study of serial killer's. It was not until i was 15 that i re-looked into columbine properly.

A decade ago after watching "Bowling For Columbine" but only started to re-visit "Columbine" in recent months and learnt more info sense BFC.

Was born after it happened, but I remember hearing about it when I was really young, I think it was on the news for the anniversary of it and I remember my mom talking about "two students shooting up their own school before graduation" or something along the lines of that.

I first heard of it when I was just a little kid, 9 or 10. I remember watching a TV channel where some people were commemorating the massacre.
Specifically they were showing an image from Eric's diary, the page where he wrote "Kill Mankind". I thought, How could he say such a thing?
Now I understand...

I was in middle school and Craig Scott came to my school talking about Rachel’s Challenge and had everyone sign a petition to be kind and not bully. That agreement lasted probably 10 minutes.

I was always vaguely aware of it, but didn't know the specifics until I watched the Zero Hour documentary on it.

A WatchMojo video, seriously.

The Zero Hour documentary.

Primate Murder wrote:

A WatchMojo video, seriously.

Was it the "10 Most Infamous" video they made in 2012? I think that video came out just a matter of days before Sandy Hook happened.

I was born after columbine and before 9/11 happened .
I was already doing stuff with murdercases a few years back and columbine happened to be one of them.

THE COLUMBINE THEY KILL THE PPL!?

from those typical "true horror stories" youtube channels, and it really caught my attention

I was born 2 years before Columbine, and I found about it through Tumblr, shamelessly (idk if it would be considered shameful to find out about Columbine through Tumblr lol). I saw one of my mutuals bitching about TCC, and talked about Columbine as one of the examples. Then I think one of my other mutuals reblogged some stuff about Eric and Dylan and everything pretty much started from there.

I'm 18, so I wasn't even a thought when Columbine happened. My parents graduated 2001 and I recently asked them what it was like to see Columbine in real time on the news, and very anticlimactically, they both stated "We didn't care". But back to the topic at hand, I discovered Columbine through top 10 videos, going over photos of the shooters but none it it interested me (I was prob 8-10). Recently, around a couple months ago, I got into TCC and Columbine because of a mass shooting iceberg. Got progressively more into it because of how many theories there were that surrounded this thing that happened years ago. Down the rabbit hole and all that.

I think it was some special on the news talking about it in the early 2010s (i think 60 minutes). Probably not the first time i heard about it but one of the earlier ones i can remember.

It was actually from the comment section of one of the music videos for Bone's Teenwitch album

Funnily enough I discovered it in 2017 when I watched creepy top 10 VHS videos on YouTube. I then got interested in it again when William Atchison's crime scene photos were made public which made my imagination go wild. I then became infatuated with it ever since Nikolas Cruz killed 17 people and how big of an event it was and how even at my small illinois middle school it rocked everyones world that someone could do it to school. I vaguely remember Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech but I was very little at that time.

I first heard about Columbine after doing some research about school shootings. This was after Parkland was recent news back in 2018, and I remember taking a 17-minute passing period too. I wasn't interested in mass shooters at the time but I think Oxford was the shooting that sparked my interest again.