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We might need some new classes in school that teach kids about reality. if that kid was playing out some kind of reality show where he did not see the difference between reality and fantasy, then what causes that disconnect to not happen? I can watch SAW or Hostel and even though it is gross, I dont have the desire to go out and practice it. Maybe we need to teach kids some new subjects in school or something. Just like we used to have woodshop in high school, (but i hear that is gone somewhat); maybe we need new social science lessons or something.
...if that kid was playing out some kind of reality show where he did not see the difference between reality and fantasy, then what causes that disconnect to not happen?...
Well kids are born with an "empty slate". They must be learn EVERYTHING! Walking, talking, going to the bathroom, rules, what to do, what not to do, and on and on.
So if they are never taught or exposed to something, how can they be expected to know it?
I remember growing up and doing a lot of talking to my parents, babysitters, teachers, and others. I recall a constant stream of "You are going to jail if you do that" comments.
These days I see a lot of kids not talking to their parents - rather they are playing video games, etc. That is their teacher!
We might need something like when we were in school, I went to high school around the early 1970's,, back then they scared us with the anti-drug movies. it worked for me. We might need more of the kind of instruction about the dangers of kids thinking they can experiment with violence and the consequences.
Well they already have a tv show called Scared Straight. They take rowdy kids and send them to jail for a day and scare the ****e out of them. seems to work. maybe we need more of that. like Woodshop was taught back then too, it was neeeded,, now we need some more classes like teaching kids reality.
I do think the social environment we have is making kids less socially aware. The prevalence of video games, which DO teach kids skills, (and if they are practicing these skills 4 hours a day with the video games that you indulge in fantasy killing in that video game), with the prevelance of the culture of death (lots of horror movies that are now into pain-porn (which is movies that are so violent it called that i.e. Hostel, Saw, etc); and desensitization of kids where they used to go out together and interact, and are now typing to faceless people on the internet, which doesn't help with social skills, and the general falling apart of our nation (government officials are corrupt nowadays .. no good role models much anymore, terrible school environment where they have to have metal detectors, kids and 20-somethings going on shooting rampages in schools). to name a few.
OK not ALL people who indulge in these things are going to be violent, but i think it contributes and all you need is the perfect storm to come together with just the right elements and there you have a kid shooting up a college.
Very sad. The majority of kids/young people can play video games and scary movies without wanting to carry out what they see on the screen...but there is always those few who are sick in the head. I have a hard time believing a 17 yr old doesn't understand that when you kill someone, they die. They don't come back, there is no reset button, it's final. But I'm sure there are some emotionally stunted and immature teenagers out there.
I can't imagine the reality of his life now. Very sad.
What happened to PARENTING ?
People blame video games. You have to be 17 for the 'mature' games. Parents purchase these mature games for their kids, and then say, "It's the video games!"
There was something clearly wrong with this kid. The way he carried it out with no emotion. He murdered people that LOVED him for pretty much no reason.
I think he was probably extremely disturbed, but found a way to somewhat assimilate in society. Clearly that didn't last long.
Would better parenting help that murderer ? Not always, and I have seen with my own eyes the difference in siblings from the same parents, and one of them is a stand up member of society, and the other is a disturbed, angry, con-artist, lieing, cheating, law breaking person.
Some people just require more guidance than others. And some people are just truly disturbed.
The problem might not be normal kids playing video games. It might be the 5-10% of kids that are born psychopaths. Many "experts" say that if you raise a psycopath in a loving home, chances are that he will not turn violent and be quite normal ( he will still lack empathy but socially he will not be a problem) Now what parent is gonna admit to himself that they just bred a psychopath?
I think there's more to the story than just his explanation of watching a bad "Halloween" movie.
His lack of insight tells me that his developmental age at 17 is probably stuck far beyond his comprehend-able years. His explanations of the event and lack of ability to express his emotions in such a robotic way tells me this kid thinks like a trapped 9-year old stuck in a 17-year old body. Most healthy teenagers are out and about with their friends. They develop social skills needed for empathy.
This kid is so restricted emotionally in so many ways, I can only imagine how dysfunctional his home environment was.
Did she smother him? Perhaps his father not being around caused some kind of dysfunction in the family, mother being too overcompensating by spoiling him but shutting him down? I'd also question the lack of open communication at home and the ability to express love and laughter, partly due to mom's parenting skills from her own family of origin and the nature of the family's survival skills. Not to blame her. Assuming she was a single parent, social life stressors are not too uncommon for single-parent households.
Something about rigid families and rules, from what I've seen seems to produce very restricted and cold almost sociopathic tendencies where kids become bullies or exhibit apathetic affect to the point where they don't have a healthy and normal level of development, self-awareness and insight. He was probably very stunted at a young age.
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