<p>One of the deceased victims appears to be the girlfriend of the shooter’s cousin, who was also shot. </p>
<p>The shooter’s twitter account is still visible and reflects a lot of emotion and anger as his relationship with his girlfriend falls apart. He appears to accuse a former “brother” of betrayal.</p>
<p>The shooter is an experienced hunter. It is unimaginable to me that a high school freshman could shoot five friends in the head, but perhaps his experience with firearms while hunting helped him maintain his composure and carry out this horrible act. Unfortunately.</p>
<p>We sometimes underestimate the powerful impact of emotional events on teens. In this case, the access to a firearm resulted in a deadly act that will impact the lives of all the victims and families forever. Had a gun not been available, the outcome might have been very different. </p>
<p>I guess I haven’t read the latest info.
I was caught up with the walkouts D’s school held Thursday & Wednesday.
I thought I read that the shooter was recently in the court for homecoming.
So probably not bullied, but something was obviously amiss.</p>
<p>One can’t know everything that their kids do or say and certainly kids find new social media platforms, but my gosh, a quick peek at this gentleman’s grandson’s FB page is enough to see that if he recovers, this kid could use some adult intervention RE the glorification of violence as a way to handle difficulties. </p>
<p>I do not think I will ever understand the mental illness that mostly is seen in males that leads to the thinking of if you do not want me as a spouse or significant other the only solution is to kill you.</p>
<p>Tom, it seems that narcissism has substantially increased in the young people of America, and in people who carry the flaw into adulthood. Their mindset seems to be ‘you rejected me and that hurt. Therefore I have to harm, maim, punish you.’ Then I will kill myself so people will understand how I felt.’ That’s my armchair analysis. What’s the cause? Is it video games, fast food, an overload of technology but no moral compass to guide its use? I have no real answers.</p>
<p>But the one thing we do know is that in the overwhelming majority of cases it is MALES who commit such acts. Maybe we should spend more time studying how females who are jilted/hurt/insulted/whatever work out their issues without resorting to violence.</p>
<p>I agree with you but what these crazies should understand is the best way to handle rejection is to move on and not give the person or the act of rejection a inordinate amount of power. This need to harm or stalk or terrorize just bewilders me.</p>
<p>The easy access to weapons that so many teens seem to have astounds me. Even if a family legally owns a firearm for whatever purpose, how is it that it is so easy for a child to gain access to it? Since there appears to be no end in sight to the debate surrounding gun control, perhaps we should consider laws that impose harsh financial or other penalties on parents who cannot seem to lock these weapons away. While it would not eradicate theses tragedies, it would cut down on the number of kids who can simply grab a gun before leaving for school in the morning. </p>
<p>Teenagers by nature are highly emotional beings and many do not have the tools to handle the ups and downs of adolescent life. And as this most recent tragedy illustrates, there is no one “type” of child who is capable of this sort of thing. In my view, leaving a gun within reach of teenagers is akin to leaving knives within reach of toddlers. They can hurt themselves and others.</p>
<p>Lake, this isn’t a new problem though.I used to work as a volunteer in domestic violence (as a way to pay it forward after escaping a DV situation of my own). Decades ago men were killing their spouse/partner/girlfriend as a way of saying “If I can’t have you, no one will”. This was way before the internet and video games and modern teen behavior. There are some programs that operate with some success to work with men with DV histories. The problem is that sometimes, like with this kid, their first violent act is a fatal one. </p>
<p>sseamom- yes. I can remember boys in high school who reacted like crazed idiots because a girl broke up or would never date them. I think it is a self esteem issue.</p>
<p>I think it is a control issue.
If it was simply that they had low self esteem, wouldn’t they turn their depression inward, without trying to punish others?
Some people seem to believe that everything needs to be a certain way.
If it isn’t, they can’t handle it.
I think we have made it worse by trying to anticipate wants in our children.
They don’t develop the skill of waiting/ working for what they want, or even realizing that it wasn’t a realistic want in the first place.</p>
<p>Well, it certainly seems to be predominantly a male problem. At least when a female decides to shoot the former object of her affection, typically she confines the mayhem to that single individual. The Georgia beauty queen shot only her former beau (and not the romantic rival), thank goodness, etc… Males seem to want to make a statement by maiming as many people as possible. Witness the Santa Barbara maniac earlier this year. Like Tom1944, I just do not understand this “You belong to me” obsession by former lovers etc.</p>
<p>Another sad story from this week - a student came by my office on Tuesday to tell me she would be missing class on Thursday. She was traveling a few hours away to support her best friend whose 4 year old daughter picked up the dad’s gun off the bed and was killed by it somehow. The dad was former military who had left the loaded weapon on the bed to go get something else at the time. So senseless and sad…</p>
<p>And yet we never prosecute people who allow weapons to get into the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. We just say “they are suffering enough.” But it keeps happening, so something is not getting through. Maybe taking people’s freedom away should be the price of irresponsible weapons management, not just grief.</p>