TOPIC: Students Massacred in Colorado
SOURCE: Dennis Klass, professor, psychologist and former Chair of the Department of Religion, Webster University, St. Louis, MO. Dr. Klass is a noted expert on death and grieving.
CONTACT: Polly Harbaugh, public information director, (314) 968-6954
Marilynne Herbert, Halstead Communications, (212) 734-2190 [email protected]
The tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado may be one of the country's worst massacres. The crime, committed by two heavily armed students believed to be associated with a disaffected clique known as the "Trench Coat Mafia," left 15 dead, and many more wounded. What role, if any, does society play in such a tragedy?
"At the very least, we have some pretty alienated kids who did this," says Professor Dennis Klass, psychologist and Chair, Department of Religion at Webster University in St. Louis. "This incident needs to open all of us to ask the question, who in our communities are feeling the kind of isolation and resentment that this so called trench coat Mafia was feeling. How, were these kids allowed to withdraw further and further into a self-created fantasy world into which the questions of life and death were not reality based. As a community, we must look at ourselves and ask if we had some part in this. We must examine our behavior, our social relationships -- we cannot simply walk away and refer to these kids as a, devilish them. They are, somehow a part of us."
As a psychologist and scholar, Professor Klass has been addressing the topic of death and grief for more than a decade, and written numerous articles on the subject. He is the author of Parental Grief: Resolution and Solace, co-author of They Need to Know: How to Teach Children about Death, and co-editor of Continuing Bonds: New Understandings of Grief. He received The Appreciation Award from the National Board of the Compassionate Friends in 1992. His most recent book, The Spiritual Lives of Bereaved Parents, was published by Taylor and Francis in 1999.
To interview Professor Klass, call him at (314) 968-7046 (office) or (home) 314-962-0459, Polly Harbaugh, Webster's public information director (314) 968-6954, or Marilynne Herbert, Halstead Communications (212) 734-2190 can also arrange interviews.
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