Article (http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/news/story?id=2037077)

whats up with kids going physco these days... its like a norm now.. crazy

Kids go psycho like that from a combination of negative influences and a lack of abstract thinking abilities (which are still in development until adulthood). Simply put, their brains have not yet developed the ability to fully understand the consequences of their actions. They live for the here and now.

The parents of the victim are amazingly well tempered...

I think the issue is that there's just a lot of anger in young boys today, and they have no outlet. It bottles up and doesn't get released until it comes out as just total fury, because in todays society you're supposed to 'channel' your anger instead of just be angry.

Dave (agrees this is an issue where a young boy doesn't understand consequence and the fragile nature of human life)

I think the issue is that there's just a lot of anger in young boys today, and they have no outlet. It bottles up and doesn't get released until it comes out as just total fury, because in todays society you're supposed to 'channel' your anger instead of just be angry.

Wow - well said. I heard someone call it "a nation of whiners". We live in a society where no ones feelings are ever supposed to get hurt and we're never supposed to lash our verbally or physically at anyone.

And you see this stuff happening almost every day now - we're definately not doing something right as a society.... :(

Up where I live in British Columbia the laws are such that kids get away with what they do because they can..(Juveniles are almost untouchable)........laws are too soft.....Most of the assaults,car thefts,etc. that kids (25 and under) commit are largely related to procuring drug money............and the attitude is handed down to them everyday by television, movies and media that wimps don't make it and the ballsier and "off the wall " you are the better.because this is the age of "larger than life" and the "corporate bully".......plus instant gratification...they don't want to wait thru 35 years of hard work for something,...they want it now any way they can get it...........most of the sports heroes have been exposed as roid users....the message is that fair play and ethics are for fruitcakes and real men and woman don't earn something...they TAKE it.......as an aside compare the society you grew up in to the one we're in today......do you think it's the same or gotten worse for young kids just starting out?? :read:

Parents...

I hate to say it but American parents these days just don't know how to raise their children. From what I have seen they just basically ignore their children... that is if they aren't busy getting a divorce at the time. Its no wonder kids are so messed up these days. When I was a kid if you were a wiseass you got some real punishment. Not this sit in the corner and think about what you did garbage. I respect my elders because they have been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. I went back to my highschool recently and a majority of the kids I saw were destined to be losers in life. They have no aspirations or goals anymore. They hate their parents and their parents want nothing to do with them and instead just want to blame their failed attempt at parenthood on today's society, tv, or some other mindless nonsense. The family unit has dissapeared from the mainstream. Things are going downhill.. and fast. On the bright side.. that means less competition for me and my children, who I will spank.. not beat. On the down side that means that there are going to be more people latching on to govt hand outs. Ofcourse I could go on about how welfare should become "workfare" and how social security won't exist by the time I am eligible and so on.. Sorry about the rant.

Emilio, I feel ya man.

I agree, if I acted up back in the day, my mom would give me a spanking or a quick tap across the back of the head.

Nowadays, that'll get Child Protective Services. :(

And I think it really does come down to this culture where parents are 'buddies' - not authority figures. I pity my (eventual) children. ;) No, not really, I'm just going to make sure they understand right and wrong, and obey authority (within reason).

Dave (also truly does believe some people are just messed up and it just comes out early)

Parents...

I hate to say it but American parents these days just don't know how to raise their children. From what I have seen they just basically ignore their children... that is if they aren't busy getting a divorce at the time. Its no wonder kids are so messed up these days. When I was a kid if you were a wiseass you got some real punishment. Not this sit in the corner and think about what you did garbage. I respect my elders because they have been there, done that, and got the t-shirt. I went back to my highschool recently and a majority of the kids I saw were destined to be losers in life. They have no aspirations or goals anymore. They hate their parents and their parents want nothing to do with them and instead just want to blame their failed attempt at parenthood on today's society, tv, or some other mindless nonsense. The family unit has dissapeared from the mainstream. Things are going downhill.. and fast. On the bright side.. that means less competition for me and my children, who I will spank.. not beat. On the down side that means that there are going to be more people latching on to govt hand outs. Ofcourse I could go on about how welfare should become "workfare" and how social security won't exist by the time I am eligible and so on.. Sorry about the rant.

first I want to say that I'm not a parent... with that said... I don't think it's all the parents fault.. yes, some of the blame does fall there... however, when you have everyone looking at you to see if you do anything remotely worth calling Family & Children Services for, parents these day's must feel so much pressure to not do anything 'wrong' acording to all of the stupid, government pushed rules, that sometimes they just don't do anything... personally, I feel government needs to but the hell out... let parent raise thier children... I got spanked and honestly, I think I came out just fine :p

Nowadays, that'll get Child Protective Services. :(


Yet another myth populated by the nation of whiners. I've spoken directly to CPS about a story my nephew told them that my mother and I were "kicking him around the house like a soccer ball". It was laughable. They said point blank - beating your kids is not against the law - unless you leave marks.

I'm a parent of three - and I actually thought - I shouldn't spank my kids - timeout will do what it says. And honestly - for 95% of the bad behavior it does work. But there are those days when the kid just wants to push your buttons and test the limits. Those are the days I have no issue whatsoever bending them over my knee and whopping them on the behind. Instant behavior change. Then you hug them - tell them you love them and how sad it makes you to have to spank them. (A good psychological beating is always a plus also . . . )

first I want to say that I'm not a parent...

That explains all those cool toys you and bluestreak have . . . (just kidding :D )

Thats very true. There is a huge difference between discipline and abuse.

When asked what their family life was like, about half of all kids that get arrested for serious crimes say it was normal and loving, middle class values, and that they were never spanked or hit. The other half say they were. So the spank question doesn't seem to play any role in whether the kid turns out "normal" or "criminal". I would say peer association plays a large part.....sleep with the snakes and you're going to get bit......teen years are when the young feel awkward and seek acceptance at great cost.....a lot of them can't take the ostracisizing they get when they don't bend to the group.....the group is part of Society...Generally our Society is sick.....who in insane asylum is going to call the other person "nuts"?......half of all marriages end in divorce so what does that say about modern family values?.....Kids of any age are not stupid..they suck up evrything they see around them....the minute they start attending school is when society has a vested interest in their behavior......because it isn't the parents that set the moral rules.....the rules are made and administered by society and law...(it used to be the church but not anymore).............so yes it is irresponsible for parents to shuffle the whole blame on Society but you cannot reasonably assert that Societyand the Media have no effect on a person's behaviour. As Marshall McLuhan said "The Medium IS the Message"....................'scuse me fer a sec.......my dinners getting cold.......I mean look at the stalkers who stalk movie stars....there's a media-driven offence in that the offender first discovered the victim in the media (Movies,T.V. etc.,).........With the possible exception of the Amish and Branch Davidians, the media and society influence anyone in the free world. This is evident by the "Coca-Cola Culture"....the U.S.A. has influenced more countries socially with Coke, Big Macs and Rock Music than it ever did with guns..................A famous quote from a social philosopher a few years ago.."If it"s you versus the world..bet on the world".........We live in the world of zero patience,zero tolerance,the ten-second sound bite, the one-one hundredth of a second video bite, the world's fastest you-fill-in-the blank. I don't believe that rock and roll music ever made anybody commit hari-kari, they were going to do it any way .....but I'm not so sure about the effect these Ultra-Violent DVD games have on children.....I played one about 20 years ago and the images are absolutely burned into my brain forever...............Sex,Violence and Rock 'n' Roll, a capitalists dream but also anyone else that wants to make a buck.......BUT you have to have MARKET DEMAND first.....why is Porn an 80 billion dollar annual business on the Net?....because people SUPPORT it, the same way that they support drug use,booze use, prostitution, and any and all manor of vice and pleasure...BECAUSE there is a demand.................and yet we expect the parents to shield Junior from all that is in the world..........well even the Amish have kids fleeing the compound on a regular basis to get a taste of what lies beyond........so it's going to take something more than a "rod for the fool's back" or a couple of dissertations from the Good Book...................There is no head of the family any more......Mom makes just as much money as Dad does and doesn't take any kind of sh-t from him..................oh,and and one last thing....have you noticed when teens and young people have a scrap nowadays they don't fight one on one like real men used to......no, they 're so stinking yellow they all jump on the victim at once anand in some cases kill him or her..........I've been on this planet for a little while and what I see is that people are more angrier, nervous, impatient than they ever were when I was in my teen years....a certain vague kind of fear subtly permeates the zeit-geist........which is why I'm not too surprised when people go "postal"..... :spaz:

HevyMetal I agree with what a lot of what you said - but the burning question begs to be asked.

Computers, video games, porn, alcohol, drugs and violence on TV were around when I was a kid - how come I never took a baseball bat and beat one of my friends to death when we played little league?

You may be onto something about the family unit. I was miserable in my home - and frequently when I'd tell tales about my folks people would ask who I lived with as if they were divorced - fortunately for me they made me live in that hellish household til I was 17 when they finally called it quits. Maybe the sheer act of having two parents kept me straight?

On a similar note - I recall a day and age where kids time at school wasn't so closely regulated that there were fistfights. Someone pissed you off at school - you punched them in the nose - repeat until someone learned their lesson. I think the abscence of good-old fashioned brawling in schools is what causes kids to shoot each other. (And I'm serious here)

Fights these days aren't fair. Kids are too scared to fight their own fights. Weapons and friends always seem to find their way into fights.