excellent observation. caused me to think.

Unfortunately, that would probably also play right into their hands. Many/most of them are hoping to go out in a "blaze of glory" anyway. You've got to realize that these people are not rational and aren't thinking like the rest of us.

Just like you can't attribute what most people would consider "normal" rationality and thoughts to someone that's suicidal, you also can't apply the same to people that decide to perform a mass-murder.

I'm not making excuses at all. Whether you get pissed at your neighbor or wife and decide to do them in or you get pissed at all women or random people for a specific reason or because you've got a mental illness, you're still a danger to society that needs to be dealt with somehow. I'd be fine with the idea of essentially erasing them, no media coverage at all, no mention, no name, nothing. I agree, the issue is that the media is creating copy-cats. These days, everyone wants their 15 mins or 15,000,000 hits on youtube, and for some folks, this is how they decide to get it.

This is an interesting read about some of the fairly recent crazies.
Toronto van attack: Inside the dark world of 'incels' - BBC News

Is it?

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MJRF8xGzvj4" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Articles tonight suggest that the kid was "emotionally bullied", and that seems to be a thread among some of the school shooters.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/santa-fe-high-school-student-202330470.html

Couple that with what Pavulon said, and there you go.

Don't most of them kill themselves? In this case, the shooter said he planned to but discovered he didn't have the nerve, so surrendered. The so-called "incel" in Canada is the first I've heard of that attempted to get the police to shoot him.

what is the difference in being bullied today and the same crap 50 years ago?

We used to have fist fights about this stuff, not go home and get a gun!

Very sad scenario repeating itself ad nauseam.

I see trench coats being banned at all schools. Sounds silly but should have already been in place. How are these guys just walking around with long guns?

Dang, we would not have had to go very far. About every pickup truck in the student parking lot had a gun rack with a shot gun and a rifle hanging in them.

We had one student who was weird, awkward and a ready target for bullying, especially by the jocks. He even wore a trench coat to school, even on hot days. He just took it all and never changed. I often wondered if it was his way of getting attention and being noticed. In today's schools, such a guy would probably snap and go "postal" real quick. (Oh yeah, years ago it seemed this kind of thing only happened to postal workers. Strange.)

What's so silly about it?

I'd have zero problems with strict dress codes K-12. Uniforms are even better. Simply wearing a school uniform allows at least some kind of attachment to the school. These kids are detached from civil life. Loners.

We are social animals endowed with at least the potential for reason. An asocial existence gives unbalanced people an evenue for reason to escape their grasps.

There was a tall, skinny guy in junior high who had a tic. He'd jut out his jaw and snap his head back almost constantly. I sat next to him on the bus as the seat was always vacant. Never said a word to him or vice versa for at least an entire school year. I'd never seen him talk to anybody.

Every once in awhile at his stop when I had to scooch over so he could get past, he'd wink at me.

I had a pretty small graduating HS class of 69 or so kids...IIRC, it was however, the largest ever from there. Living a few states away now but often think that practically every one of us owes 3 or 4 of our classmates a genuine apology and that none of those 3 or 4 is obligated in any way to accept it.

The difference today,
Behavior modification drugs, social media, lack of God or morals being taught, parents working long hours so that everyone has the newest iPhone, kids not playing outside, Hollywood, violent video games, spending more time in front of a computer than interacting with family..........

So glad I was born in the 60’s.

Pretty good analysis....spot on!

I agree!

This is the root of the problem and this is what should be emphasized in the press and by anyone looking for solutions....from your link, Dave.....

JHC....what a bunch of chicken chit people to pick on a kid.....doesn't excuse the shootings but you can't ignore how effed up stuff like this is in a school setting.

Where were the people who are supposed to look out for the kid? Teachers, mentors, big brothers, parents, best friends, classmates, resource officers, counselors....??? :rolleyes:

Your/our generation were not on heavy doses of ADHD, anti depressants, anti psychotics or other mind altering drugs from a young age. No one really knows what those drugs do to a brain when they are started at a young age. I am sure all of the societal factors others mentioned contribute but imagine if a kid has been on these prescription meds for a long time by teenage years, new hormones, stress, over/under dosing or recreational drug use on top of the prescription and then snaps. How many parents really stay on top of kids taking their meds?

In about 1986, as a HS freshman, my youngest brother was getting treated poorly by a sophomore. Our quiet (but a horse) brother, then a HS junior, 'fixed' that problem resulting in a trip to the principal's office. The principal told him "Nice work. That's the way things should work for brothers" and sent him back to class. :)

Same here, as I said in the PARF thread I saw changes in quality of parents in public schools and additionally how students were being treated by administrators and yanked my older son out in Middle School and put him in private school, best money ever spent.

I am glad I grew up when I did I feel like it was the last generation of kids that are actually kids.

Agreed, but I experienced crap like this too, I actually had a gym teacher in 8th grade pick me up off my feet and throw me into a cement wall because he was pissed at me. My transgression, someone kicked a locker room basket at me, I kicked it away, the teacher heard the other kick and only saw mine so he made an example out of me by throwing me around like the basket.

Many years later as an adult I mentioned the incident in front of my father. He asked me why I never told him about it, I responded, because then you would have kicked my ass too and I was not in the mood to get beat up twice in one day. Yeah I was more afraid of pissing off my dad then the teacher. Those day are gone today that teacher would have been fired.

When I was 24 I stopped by the old high school to visit a teacher and saw that gym teacher in the hallway. He was smaller than me, the thought crossed my mind to throw him into a wall but I knew better.

I saw kids getting bullied all through middle school and HS growing up, at times I was one of the kids being picked on. I grew up poor and was constantly being made fun of for not have the cool clothing and sneakers. I had it good though it was not constant, there were other kids I felt really bad for.

When Columbine happened in 1999 I turned to my wife and said I was amazed it did not happen sooner or more often. School kids can be some of the biggest azzholes on earth.

Is anyone really surprised it is happening more now? I am not, parents are absent now and with social media the bullying is 24/7 not just in school anymore and now MSM glorifies the shooter(s).

I thank god neither of my sons care about social media (25 and 15 years old) neither have facebook nor any other platform. My older one has an IG account and follows all car feeds. He is a total motorhead.

I am the nutjob of the family wasting time on car forums.

Good post, Jim. Thanks. Your sons sound like they have their chit together. You should be proud, man.

All kids could use an older brother to lean on when needed.

I would like to see more of that - especially in this day and age.