Public Policy The author of this response is asked to answer to five major questions and requirements in this assignment relative to the school shootings and focus group research done within the Clemons and McBeth text. The author is asked to look at the content analysis/problem definition, critique the facilitator, survey/focus group analysis, symbols and metaphors and answer the question of "what's next." The author will do answer to these in the order listed in the assignment.

As for the content analysis and the overall description of the problem, the case study does better than most salacious and over-dramatic media reports about events like Columbine and the like but there is still a tinge of that element present and it's not tamped down at all later on. Rather than focus on the root cuases and the best ways to do deal with school shootings and the like (e.g. help parents...

The facilitator could have done a lot worse but also could have done a lot better. Perhaps it's controversial to some to point to what can and should be done at all levels of school shootings and what leads up to them, but the author of this response holds that a public policy solution alone is not going to prevent school shootings unless we really start talking about how to deal with people with mental illness. Klebold and Harris (Columbine), Loughner (although he didn't do a school shooting) and Lanza (Newtown) were all clearly deranged and things like gun laws and worrying about that innocent law-abiding citizens…