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The characters social norms in Long Way Down could seem out of the ordinary and not relevant to us, but that's how they lived and it's typical to them.

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posted on by Sommer Garmon

I had a hard time deciding which U.S event I wanted to write about, however, I found one event that really struck emotionally to me- The Highland Ranch school shooting in Colorado. As the years go on, we hear about more mass shootings. It is saddening that it is becoming something so usual to us, that it is not of the least bit of concern to some people. "Oh, another mass shooting?" is a phrase that has become so routine to Americans that we do not even realize it.

On May 7 th, 2019 just shy of 2pm, gunshots began firing at the K-12 STEM school in Colorado. Let that sink in- K-12. Anywhere from the ages of about five or six to the ages of eighteen/nineteen, having to witness what every student in America has become afraid of. Reports say that the shots began in the middle school portion of the school. The suspect shooters are believed to have been two students that attended the school and they began firing in two classrooms.

One eye-opening thing about this particular shooting is that Highland Ranch is only minutes down the road from Columbine High School. It is only seven miles apart. In this shooting, two students opened fire on their classmates. They killed twelve students and one teacher. Columbine has gone down in history as one of the mass shootings that occurred in the United States, this one occurred in 1999. The 20 th anniversary of the Columbine school shooting just recently passed.

Within minutes of the first gun shot at Highland Ranch STEM School shooting, there was an 18-year-old student dead, and eight students were wounded.

On the article that I read, there was a few quotes from a woman who is the mother of twins. She stated, "With everything at Columbine, you never think this would be the reality of this situation." They did not identify who the woman was, but she also stated that she received a call from her daughter that said, "Mommy, there's a gun being shot at my school." There are so many parents and students now that fear the idea of going to school or their kids going to school. There's never a way to know if something so terrifying, such as school shootings, will happen to your school. There's always that worry, but so many people think, "it will never happen to me."

Another couple of students that were injured were ones that did something many others would not do. Brendan, a senior at the STEM school, was sitting in one of the classrooms, when the two suspects entered. Brendan said that one of the suspects pulled a gun from a guitar case. With quick thinking and no hesitation, Brendan and two friends jumped on top of the shooters. Brad Bialy, Brendan's father, said that one students who attempted to tackle the gunmen was shot in the chest and the other students applied pressure to the wound.

Another student that was injured was a 17-year-old boy. He was shot three times. Thankfully, he is going to be okay and has already been released from the hospital. The student and his father, Fernando Montoya, know that he is very lucky and is still in disbelief that he is able to walk away from this.

The article states that there was no clear warning of the shooting, however, just weeks before there was a scary incident. Douglas County Schools took extreme precautions on April 17 th, 2019, as they closed the schools due to a potential threat. There was an armed Florida teen who had an infatuation with the Columbine massacre. The woman made threats to the school before making a trip to Colorado. She was later found dead with self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Focusing back to the Highland Ranch STEM school shooting, it is said that with the sudden action of the police, they were able to save many lives. In one of the interviews that I watched, a police officer said that the police station was only about a block away, so they were able to respond within minutes, if not seconds. Also in the interview, the police officer gave information on how the parents of the students could hopefully reunite with their child. Some children self-evacuated, while others were still stuck inside the school. The students were being transported by bus over to a recreational center, where they would be able to reunite with their families.

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Mass Shootings are Becoming too Normalized in the U.S.

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posted on by Sommer Garmon I had a hard time deciding which U.S event I wanted to write about, however, I found one event that really struck emotionally to me- The Highland Ranch school shooting in Colorado. As the years go on, we hear about more mass shootings.

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Almost 2/3 of suicides worldwide are men
https://afsp.org/suicide-statistics/

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American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

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Learn the latest statistics on suicide. Data on suicide are taken from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Data & Statistics Fatal Injury Report for 2018, as of March 1, 2020. Suicide rates listed are Age-Adjusted Rates.

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Texas Heartbeat Act, signed into law, signed into law by Texas state governor, Greg Abott on May 19 2021

Abortions are very controversial in America and in Southern states such as Texas there is so much stigma around it that in the last year they've put bans on abortion. There are now these social norms around getting an abortion or supporting the people that choose to have them in Southern states while left leaning or northern states there's stigma around that stigma.

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In Lord of of The Flies, all of the Boys recognize Ralph as chief and respect the system of the conch because of the way their social hierarchy works and these rules are how they keep order in their already chaotic environment. At least in the beginning of the novel, if people went against those rules, it was met with controversy from the other boys because it wasn't acceptable.

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real world example: countries all have different customs, for example tipping is expected in the US but not in many other countrys. this relates back to the book club book because although the idea of people killing eachother according to the rules may seem unnecessary and gory, but its a normal thing that the characters go through in this story https://www.businessinsider.com/american-customs-that-are-offensive-abroad-2015-8

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25 common American customs that are considered offensive in other countries

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You probably do these things all the time, but abroad, they could get you into trouble.

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In "Lord Of The Flies" Piggy acts with more class and manners because he was raised that way by his aunt and those were likely the norms in his household, while Ralph lived with his father who was in the navy and his mindset was that he was getting rescued and that the group needed a strong leader, similar to his father, because those were the norms in his household

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In lord of the flies, Jack says, “this head is for the beast, it’s a gift.” Where you grow up and the environment you were in can make a big impact on your opinions and what you think is right. Jack saying this shows that he thinks violence is perfectly fine, when in reality it’s not.

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Madison: Universal Generalization Question
Josh: Book talk about my evidence
Paja: Talks about invisible feelings

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Everyone follows social norms, sometimes without even knowing they are.
https://examples.yourdictionary.com/social-norm-examples.html

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In Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds, Will is explaining how when someone in his neighborhood is shot, or when there's a gunshot at all, everyone acts like they saw nothing and heard nothing and he says: "Best to become invisible in times like these. Everybody knows that." (Reynolds Pg. 19)

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“What are we? Humans? Or animals? Or savages? What’s grownups going to think?” This shows how in Lord of the Flies the boys are so conditioned to worrying about what the older people surrounding the will think when they first got to the island. The social norms make them suppress some emotions.

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In "Long Way Down" when Willie says that he can't cry because of the rules it shows that the rules makes holding back your emotions normal in everyday life, which could contribute to the rage that builds up, eventually leading to the killing of more people in the name of revenge

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In "Long Way Down" everyone follows and set of rules. No one knows who created them, and they just get passed down on and on by people. The set of rules are no crying, no snitching, and always get revenge. This has led to many people being killed, because people want revenge. Killing when someone has done something bad to someone you love has completely become normalized, even if you don't know 100% they did it. "If someone you love gets killed, find the person who killed them and kill them," (Reynolds 33).

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1. Long Way Down - "Had I known the rules when we were kids I would've done the same thing" The rules represent social norms. The rules make it normal to seek revenge with violence with weapons.
2. Lotf - "There had grown tacitly among the biguns the opinion that piggy was an outsider, not only by accent, which didn't matter, but by fat, and ass-mar, and specs, and a certain disinclination for manual labor" Piggy doesn't fit in with the rest of the boys since he doesn't fit they're social norms. He doesn't look like them and isn't physically fit for labor.
3. Real life - https://www.businessinsider.com/top-dining-dos-and-donts-from-an-expert-2013-4 High class restaurants have high social norms. They have high etiquette and expectations. There is proper attire and manner requirements. In lower quality restaurants like fast food restaurants expectations are lower. The setting is casual with no attire expectations. Things like casual clothing and putting phones and elbows on top of the table would not be looked at twice while at a higher class restaurant that would be frowned upon.

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L'Apicio/Michael Morales
Some restaurant etiquette is just common sense: Don't speak when your mouth is full, don't tell rude jokes during the meal, and always cover your mouth when you cough.

Others can be a bit more nuanced. Who pays after a business meal? Where do you put your napkin when you stand? And how exactly does one order the perfect bottle of wine?

We spoke with expert Patricia Napier-Fitzpatrick of The Etiquette School of New York. She not only makes a living teaching people the nuances of decorum, but has even written the book, " The Art of the Meal: Simple Etiquette for Simply Everyone."

She shared some guidelines for dining at expensive restaurants.

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15 Etiquette Rules For Dining At Fancy Restaurants

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Some restaurant etiquette is just common sense: Don't speak when your mouth is full, don't tell rude jokes during the meal, and always cover your mouth when you cough. Others can be a bit more nuanced. Who pays after a business meal? Where do you put your napkin when you stand?

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In a long way down men are supposed to defend their last name and family. They will do what ever it takes to get revenge.
"don't know
your last name,
if you got
brothers
or sisters
or mothers
or fathers
or cousins
that be like
brothers
and sisters
or aunties
or uncles
that be like
mothers
and fathers,
but if the blood
inside you is on the inside
of someone else,
you never want to
see it on the outside of
them"

Another thing is the list of things that happen after someone is shot
NO 1 Screaming
NO 2 Sirens
NO 3 Questions

This shows how normalized shootings are in Will's community and how numb people can be. He says that the women always scream and over the sirens and how the police officers ask stupit questions.

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In "Lord of the Flies" when the boys were thrown into an environment they were not accustomed to, they created a set of rules for when they are allowed to talk. This resembles having to raise your hand in class to speak, which is what the boys are used to, and their social norms back home. Ralph said, "I'll give the conch to the next person to speak. He can hold it when he's speaking," (Golding 33).

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in long way down, jason reynolds uses the rules to demonstrate what effect social norms have on what is acceptable in a person's environment.

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What effects do social norms have on the choices people make in their environment.

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Shawn was the last person in the elevator

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Shawn was the last person in the elevator

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While people in America, especially students, fear shootings, it has become such a regular thing in the US that they are now desensitized. The way that we have things lockdown drills is similar to the way the characters in long way down have unspoken rules about what you do if someone gets shot.

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Just like how in "Long Way Down", this shooting is just another story. It's unknown by most and is so normalized in today's society, just like how in the book, nobody is surprised by the death of Shawn.

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Just like how in "Long Way Down", this shooting is just another story. It's unknown by most and is so normalized in today's society, just like how in the book, nobody is surprised by the death of Shawn.

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Launa Longwell

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People got shot and the suspect had an "intent to kill" which is very sad. This connects to "Long Way Down" because people that Will loved and cared for were shot and killed.

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In America, citizens have become so used to shootings around the country that it has become a normal thing and something we are taught to protect ourselves from. It relates to Long Way Down because the kids in their city are taught rules relating to shootings to protects themselves. These rules keep order throughout the city and maintain chaos.

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4th teenager dies after school shooting in Michigan; police say suspect had 'intent to kill' - USA TODAY

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Officials said Wednesday another student had died after a shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan. The 15-year-old suspect is in custody.

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In America School shootings are so common we've become desensitized to the tragedy because of social norms. This can be connected to "Long way down" because in Shawns community shootings are so normalized that there are rules related to revenge that effect Chaos Order.