Do high school shootings happen as a result of teenagers being bullied and then having enough, drugs, violence on television or are they just psychopathic?

Wow. I am sure that the folks across town at Columbine would love to read this hub. Because ten years later, they still don't have a definitive answer for why two upper middle class boys would respond violently in a context where other kids in the same boat with similar disengaged parents did not.

1. OREFIELD, Pa. (AP) - A child psychologist who authored a book about the triggers that set off school shooters says most are mentally ill, not victims of bullying as is often believed.

Peter Langman’s book “Why Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School Shooters” is being released by Palgrave Macmillan just shy of the 10th anniversary of the Columbine High School attack.

2. From CNN in 1999: "Eric Harris, was rejected by Marine Corps recruiters days before the Columbine High School massacre because he was under a doctor's care and had been prescribed an anti-depressant medication. Harris' prescription was for Luvox, an anti-depressant medication commonly used to treat patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder."

I have spent the last ten years considering this question. In fact, many Coloradans have admitted secretly that they were more affected by the horrors of Columbine than by 9-11. We in this state are pretty obsessed with issues arising around school violence.

If you really want to educate yourself on the subject, I suggest you begin here: http://acolumbinesite.com/end.html

I was watching TV commercials for movies coming out and each and every one of them was violence filled as well as alot of the video games they put out these days . Parents are both working these days just to try and put food on the table so there Is no supervision at home or nurturing . And our kids live In a society that glorifies violence ! Plenty of blame to go around on this one .

I think we live in a society that shirks responsibility far too much. When there's teenage violence, it's the TV's fault, when kids drop out of school, it's because of drugs. All these things are used as scapegoats by social crusaders in their quest to create the perfect society. It never occurs to them that all individuals are affected differently by societal pressures based on upbringing, mental imbalance, personal experience, etc. Then of course there are the actual psychopaths out there. And even when there are incidents of violence, there are isolated and then sensationalized by the media as if they are massive social problems. If television is to blame, why aren't there shootings at every school in the country? All kids watch TV, but only a few of them end up killing people.

     Is it the parent's fault, the schools, the child's or the bullies'?  All of the above ...and none of the above. Unfortunately, there isn't any formula for raising children. We nurture and love them... keep reading →

School shootings don't happen because of one thing. They happen because a number of issues are present and they all converge to create a ticking bomb. A person can only take so much of a beating, be it physical or mental/emotional. At some point, just like a dog that has been beat, they will snap. I think there has to be some basis in psychosis for a person to commit multiple murders. Even if a person snaps and attacks their tormentor, they usually won't murder the person. To commit a school shooting, a person has to have a loose grip on reality and no respect for human life. At the same time, how much respect for human life would you have if people were tormenting you? On the subject of television violence, if a person doesn't have a firm grip on reality TV violence is a bad thing. A person like that will begin to think they can do the things they watch on TV and get away with it. My direct answer to this questions is: I believe school shootings are caused by a lack of involved adults, mental illness, and bullying. I think the mental illness and depression these kids suffer from can and sometimes is caused by bullying. I believe a lack of involved adults in their lives makes a huge difference. If you're involved in your children's lives and you pay attention, you can and will notice signs of a problem. If you're not looking, you're going to be sitting there asking yourself what went wrong and the answer will be, well, you.

The answer could very well be - Yes, any of the above. having taught At Risk kids, and being certified in dealing with behavior disorder students, any of those things could well be a trigger.

On a scale from least to most, I'd order them this way and add a couple -

Mental illness (including psychopathy)

Bullying

Home environment

Drugs

and TV violence is the LEAST likely to trigger in school violence among the 12- 18 crowd.

Most of the time, it's not as simple as just one thing or another - it's most often a combination in varying degrees. For one child, it's a sociopathic viewpoint. For another, it;s a combination of being bullied at school, abused at home and being strong willed to boot.

Know that even the mildest mannered child can, at some point, be pushed far enough to act violently. I know - I threw a chair across a cafeteria as a teenager because I had been picked on one too many times. I was lucky in that I had a principal who understood what was going on, and helped me learn to cope.

Perhaps intervention early on, when you see the signs, would stop things like this in the future.

Read my essay on the subject. The answer is too complicated to speculate, meanwhile certain ideas can be put to the test. What I propose is a victim/bullies class in schools, as an experiment.

Having went to school with killers and witnessing killings as well as some of my best friends being murderers ( read my hubpage ) I feel like an expert on this subject !!

People are wired this way and there are more " pre- wired " killers roaming this Earth than you'd probably think there is !!

It has to do with rejection and a feeling of alone, no-one cares, then it turns to anger and get even, and it goes un-noticed, until it explodes in somewones face.

Take a kid thats say a little smaller, he is no football hero, hes avg or less in grades, he is getting shot down, other kids see it, they chime in, saftey in numbers and it begins to build. He feels not wanted, gets rejected for school clubs etc, does not fit in. Gets mad starts to blame folks, it strats smoldering there, and builds to gun shots, and bomb threats to get even.

Its very sad to have it done to you, or watch it. And most kids today will not see it, they are to busy fitting in, to walk across a hall and talk to an outcast. To afraid they will be vied like that person, and the isolation grows. A shame if you ask me

Jon

How about an overload of hormones, and a total lack of knowing how to be adults?

This culture is long overdue for maturity.

We teach young people virtually nothing about being adults, because we don't consider them adults, and we're ashamed of it.

Reality does intrude when someone brings a gun to an argument.

If you step back and look impartially at society over the past 30 years or so, we have been in steady decline of core values. People no longer actively pursue moral excellence.

I'm not saying that 50 years ago, all people were pure, virtuous and decent, but clearly there is a relationship between mass media accessibility and the decline in social values.

Apathy, sarcasm, selfishness - a child growing up these days who keeps their head twisted straight by their 15th year would be a very balanced and strong individual. Its no wonder that kids (and adults) go crazy. We're surrounded by inconsistent and disturbing imagery, be it in advertising, computer games, magazines, TV. The bombardment of distorted and unrealistic social values leaves us with no core sense of self, or place. So the weaker minded individuals succumb, and sometimes they take others with them.

The real key to understanding what makes someone go on a killing spree is deeper than your multiple choice a) drugs, b) tv, c) psycho .. in order to really turn this alarming social trend around, we have to start taking personal responsibility for the problems of the world. We have to grapple to truly understand the aggressor and the victim, and tackle the problem at its root cause.

The only way to fight darkness is to light a candle.

Stop thinking in terms of THEY and THEM, and start thinking in terms of WE and US.

Your friend,

Captain Australia

TV was recently linked to kids & violence by a major U.S. University study, however I feel it is the staccato commercial breaks that cause brain damage. I pray to Jesus H. God that Congress would follow England's BBC practice of a TV-tax and absolutely no adverts at all.

An analogy to the brain damage caused by rapidly flashing commercials and fast-takes: "Day of the Triffids," wherein flashing lights in the sky created world havoc, but more importantly, salt water became the cure-all panacea, even as in reality saline-Visine solution soothes our own eyes.

-Abe Normal

"You see, you know, you learn, hehehehe," (Jedi Master Yoda).

Once upon a time, I use to believe B.F. Skinner's hypothises that we were blank slates (i.e. Tabula Rasa). But after working as a foster parent and in treatment centers for teenagers for many years, I honestly believe we are born with our personalities and have those tendancies. Because if bullying, drugs, and watching violence on television were pre-requisites for this type of outburst then every teenager who were bullied, doing drugs, or observing violence on television would act out.

I believe genetics and mutation of our society (i.e. radiated food, pollution, alcohol used by pregnant mothers and overpopulation/thinning of the gene pool) has much more to do with psychopathical behavior. Also, it is more apparent because there are so many more people and much more media coverage.

These are children who have lived their lives starving for attention, love and affection. Those lacking human touch provided to most youth in a positive manner and thus are prone to violence. Rich or poor children without bonding, without true love given in the formative years have no idea how to love themselves. Poor children hate themselves and everyone else. Like those disillusioned individuals who raised them, they are without direction or purpose. They, who would prefer to cut themselves to feel something, tattoo marks on their skin to feel they belong to something, actually feel nothing but pain inside. Hurting others is mere byproduct of their inner loss and but a slight amusement to them. The notoriety given to evil is a benefit to those who have no name and should remain nameless. They do not understand "normal" as they have never experienced it.

I think that much of the fault for hight school shootings lies witht he parents. A lack of communication with children can cause major problems and such a lack seems to be much more common these days.

I think that there are a combination of factors to consider here. In addition to the potential factors you have listed, there is the fact that parents cannot effectively discipline their own children. The government has put restrictions on what parents can and cannot do with their own children. Some children have taken advantage of a system that is supposed to help victims. The schools are no better in fact when they turn the blind eye to someone who is being violent or has had changes in their behavior. I think that this society is inept when it comes to teaching our children a clear understanding of what is acceptable behavior. Some children may do this to act out against their parents and some maybe reacting to being bullied by their peers. I would venture to say that a child from a "less-stable" environment may be predisposed to act out in such a manner when combined with the hormone surges. I don't believe that this happens overnight, there has to be a catalyst, that is of course on the assumption that children don't shoot their classmates for fun. I don't believe that violence on tv have a whole lot to do with it. Violent acts have been played out on screen for years and it is in more recent years that this became an epidemic; just like teen pregnancy is. Let's really face facts now. Most parents of today's youth do not know how to be parents, children are expected to act like adults when they are not. There is more than enough blame to go around, but ultimately, the only person responsible is the kid with the gun.

Why does it have to be one or the other? It's undoubtedly a combination of many factors; genetic predisposition to mental illness, repeated exposure to violence (either real or fictional) leading to desensitization, chronic drug abuse, etc. The individual cases vary, but most have similar elements.

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