Profile of a school shooter

April 20, 2009 marked the tenth memorial of the Columbine massacre. Some call it an anniversary, but that word suggests celebration, and the events at Columbine leave little to celebrate.

Do we celebrate the hundreds who lived? Or do we remember the 13 who died? Do we celebrate the injured who have gone on to get married and have families, or do we remember those who never did? Do we declare victory or defeat?

Do we commend the five Columbine survivors who have gone on to become Columbine teachers? The family and friends who have gone on to spread a message of peace and hope in programs such as Rachel's Challenge. Those who have found a way to better the world through their grief. We should, yes, we should.

For survivors are not born, they are made. A survivor isn't always someone who actually took a bullet, or looked death directly in the face. A survivor is someone who has seen the worst that humanity has to offer and still finds a way to keep believing that there is still hope.

There has been enough hate, enough anger, enough pain and sorrow for many lifetimes. A true survivor seeks not to spread their pain further, but to heal. Even those who simply went on to become loving spouses and parents, who promised that the violence ended with them did their part, they did more than most of us will ever do in a lifetime.

A survivor does not become a survivor without first being damaged. When you have had a glimpse of hell, heaven becomes all the more beautiful. The life of another only becomes precious when you have accepted how fragile life really is. A survivor is someone who has been damaged, yet still picks themselves up and finds a way to go on.

Yes, there were survivors and they didn't merely survive Columbine, they have had the courage to survive every day since.

Yet ten years later we must also ask, did we learn the lessons that were presented to us on that day?

Did parents teach their children to love instead of hate, to reach out instead of judge? Have they made the tie to listen to their children and be involved in their lives? Have they been able to put selfish desires aside and focus on raising the children they agreed to be responsible for?

Have teachers and staff learned to watch for those red flags and catch them before it is too late? Have they stepped in when they saw bullying and favoritism and taken the time to listen to a troubled child?

Has the media taken their responsibility for the violence in our society? Have they stopped chasing sensational stories, and parading them in front of us day in and day out? Have they taken their responsibility for elevating those who have come before to martyrdom, and continuing the cycle?

Have all of us done all that we can to ensure that our children, our schools and our communities are safe? Have any new laws been passed that might prevent further tragedy? Did we learn to put ourselves aside, to develop compassion for our fellow man?

Have we stepped forward? Have we made progress?

Have we learned anything? I hope so.

To all the survivors out there, no matter who you are. Thank you!

To the rest of us, we can do better.

With all of the media hype it seems like school shootings, and spree killings are far more common than they really are. They are thankfully very rare.

Still these attacks do happen, and when they do the media goes into a feeding frenzy. They spoon feed it to us around the clock, spilling more and more details as they go. Most of us watch safe from our own homes and each of us has our own ideas of what went wrong.

After Columbine, the media began painting an image of the typical school shooter for us. They wear black trench coats, worshiped movies like the Matrix, they play violent video games, they listen to Marilyn Manson. They were of course outcasts, and tormented by bullies. Seemingly normal kids just snapped without warning.

I heard the Matrix mentioned quite a bit with regard to Columbine. The Matrix was released just ten days prior to the shootings, and it was unlikely either boy had ever seen it. That aside the attacks had been planned for two years prior to it actually happening.

They did play video games, but millions of other boys had played those same games. And both of them hated Marilyn Manson, he was just an easy target.

A lot of misinformation was reported early on in the investigation. Most of it was media hype, but they laid a blueprint for future school shootings. Kids who thought they were emulating the Columbine killers were actually just buying into media hype. In most cases this image was wrong, or over-sensationalized. These boys really were the boy next door in many respects. Most of them did not come from abusive homes, they had not been in trouble with the law. They slid by under the radar.

Most of them were chronic nobodies who longed to become somebodies. In life they felt invisible, so they determined that they would be anything but invisible in death. Many different organizations, including the secret service set out to develop a typical school shooter profile. They found they could not do it, the profiles could easily fit a large majority of high school students.

When one happens another tends to happen within weeks, anniversaries are also dangerous times. The copycat effect is tremendous. Shootings are more likely to happen after heavy press coverage. They are more likely to happen in the Spring, just before school gets out with April being the most common month, but also tend to happen just before Christmas break. Most victims are female, and the victims are usually random but high profile students are often targeted. On average 4.5 victims are killed, while 8 are injured.

Freaks and Geeks

Typically, they were young Caucasian males, average age of 16, coming from small communities in the southern or northwestern United States. They had average to above average IQs, and no history of serious school or conduct problems. They most often attended public school, and felt themselves to be loners or social outcasts, usually members of alienated and fringe groups.

Psychotic or something else?

Physical handicaps, disabilities, mental retardation or severe mental illness were not normally present (Though schizophrenia was a factor in two early cases). They were physically healthy. As infants they were often colicky, temperamental, and experienced delayed milestones. They often tended to be immature, and had problems with attachment and bonding, but appeared fairly normal to adults that knew them. .

Atypical depression was present with action equivalents, mixed personality disorder with paranoid, antisocial, and narcissistic features.

The most interesting thing I found, and the least publicized is the fact that in all but one of the 22 cases I studied anti-depressants (Paxil, Zoloft) or other medications such as Ritalin were involved, and in almost all cases dosages had recently been changed.

Extra-Curricular activities

They most often possessed negative self-images and unstable self-esteem, tending to be "geeks or nerds" who are rejected by mainstream students. They did not participate in pro-social groups or "normal" pastimes. Interests tend towards real and fictional violence in the media.

Dysfunction and abuse

They came from predominately middle class families that were superficially normal, but dysfunction was present. The families tended to have anger problems and power struggles present in the home. Authoritarian parenting was not uncommon. They were found to have poor relationships with parents and siblings, often a family history of mental illness, personality disorders or substance abuse. Guns were common in the home, and many were proficient with firearms.

Previous history of legal or discipline troubles

While they remained under the radar, a previous history of covert vandalism and dishonesty was present, they were distrustful and secretive with adults in authority. They had violent fantasies, often feeding those fantasies with an obsessive interest in violent media of many varieties. They did not "just snap" as some people claim, attacks were accomplished with a great deal of premeditation, planning, and surveillance of targets.

They just snapped?

Their motives often lie in vengeance and achievement of power or status. In most of these cases what is known as the Menninger Triad was present, meaning that the individuals were suicidal, homicidal, and wanted to be killed. They had usually undergone recent, multiple psychological stressors including rejection, discipline, humiliation. There does tend to be a copycat influence, often looking up to previous school shooters. With inappropriate communications of intent. They most often target female and high functioning students. Previous stalking behaviors when it comes to females is often present.

Just like other kids

These traits are common in many teenagers, and the more they studied the more they realized a useful profile was not possible. While it may single out the one kid who could possibly be a shooter, it would also point out hundreds who would go on to be happy, healthy, and productive adults.

What you will see throughout this exploration is a recurring theme. Perception was equal to reality. We must remember that though these boys were in their late teens, early twenties that they had not yet developed proper coping skills. Most teenagers haven't, and that is what makes the teen years so difficult.

Teenagers all to often try to express their frustration with the world only to be told that they had better get used to it, that it really isn't that bad, or that they should just suck it up. If it is true than many of these kids were growing up with authoritarian parents, instead of learning coping skills they learned to hide it away inside of themselves. That frustration was bound to come out somewhere.

So, please keep an open mind. So often when I share this research with others, or even read comments on articles I see people saying that they too were bullied and they did not strike out. That they grew up with guns and did not shoot someone. That type of attitude is very dangerous when you are trying to understand why someone acted the way they did, no matter what those actions are.

The idea of judging another by what you would do yourself is prevalent in our society, and I believe it strongly contributed to those who are misunderstood acting out in violent ways. By focusing on the differences present, someone who already feels like an outcast only steps further into that role.

To teenagers perception is 99% of their world. What they perceive their life to be now, is also how they perceive their future to be. If you saddle someone so young with the possibility of being a freak for the rest of their life, what hope have you given them?

When a boys fear of life surpasses his fear of death... anything can happen.

That being said what are the ingredients that go into the making of a school shooter?

Ingredient 1 - A sense of alienation
Ingredient 2 - Sexuality and gender identity
Ingredient 3 - The Small Town Curse
Ingredient 4 - Culture of popularity
Ingredient 5 - A Perception of Inequality
Ingredient 6 - Obsession with a fantasy life
Ingredient 7 - The Media Hype
Ingredient 8 - The Anti-depressant connection
Ingredient 9 - The Gun Connection
Ingredient 10 - Freedom of Information Meets Privacy Laws
Ingredient 11 - It was no secret
Ingredient 12 - The God factor

Ingredient 1 - A sense of alienation

In almost all cases these boys felt as if they were separate from the rest of the world. They were misunderstood at home, they were teased at school. As a result they began to develop an "it's me against the world" mindset. When we consider the already ME-centered world of adolescence we begin to see the problem.

They have not yet begun to develop a social consciousness in most cases, which is why they fail to understand that image isn't everything. They felt they had no friends. they felt they had no support, and they felt like things would never change for them.

You notice that I say they "felt." In many cases it seems they were not as marginalized as they imagined themselves to be. After the fact many had friends or acquaintances come forward who had no idea the boy felt that isolated and alone in the world.

A lot of us were picked on in school, but few of us struck out at our tormentors in such a violent manner. Contrary to media hype, it seems that severe bullying was present in very few cases. It was generally a slow steady stream of put downs and taunts that eroded their self esteem.

When someone wants to damage a girls self-esteem the first thing that is usually attacked is her self-image and her sexuality. Girls have a tendency to define others girls as prudish or promiscuous. The same is true for boys, only to a greater extent.

We live in a society that places a great deal of emphasis on the male image of masculinity. Almost none of these boys fit into the traditional image of masculinity. They were small for their age, often thin, they were not ladies men, and in many cases were extremely shy.

They were boys trying to get by in a mans world, and they felt like nature was against them from the beginning. I was surprised to see one thing in particular pop up over and over again. An outright questioning of the boys sexuality.

When stripped of their "manhood" many of them sought out a "manly" way to resolve their issues, what could be more manly than a gun? One young boy said suicide isn't manly, but murder suicide...

What messages are we wending them as a society when being a man is more important than human life?

Violence at school has long been considered an inner city problem, we are used to hearing about drive-bys, drug dealing and gang wars. Small town America feels somehow immune from these problems. It wasn't until I began this project that I realized almost all of these shootings were committed in small towns.

I looked around at my own small town and it was just unthinkable that such a tragic event could happen here, that a child could slip by under the radar when we all seem to know what our neighbor had for breakfast last Sunday.

It turns out that sociologists believe that is actually a big part of the problem. In a small town people are more concerned with maintaining the status quo. We may see or hear of danger signs but it is often harder to do something about it in a small town.

We not only know the child, but we know their parents. We sit with them in meetings, attend school functions together, participate in extra-curricular activities. It is one thing to turn in the child of a total stranger, a totally different matter exposing the child of a friend without good reason.

We live in a society where sports stars are paid more in one year than some of our teachers are paid in a lifetime. Those who do conform to our ideals of manhood are rewarded, they get more girls, they get more recognition, they get more breaks. In schools across this country Darwinism is alive and well.

Small town schools are often dominated by a strong jock culture.

I had never stopped to really consider why. I grew up in a small town too, but I really hadn't noticed this phenomenon until I began this research. Our schools often serve as our social centers. We have game days and potluck fund raisers, and school performances.

We don't just go for the sports, we go for the socialization, and the bonding. It is a place we can come together for a common goal. When there is little to do when it comes to social outings, the school serves as far more than just a school.

Many of these boys specifically mentioned a lack of equality in the school. They felt that even teachers favored the popular kids.

They mentioned incidents where popular kids committed serious violations of school code but were let off light. While kids who had a lesser position in the school were dealt with harshly.

There is no way to really confirm or deny these accusations most of the time. The schools deny it, but the other kids questioned seemed to agree with this assessment.

They noted several occasions where even staff seemed to look the other way depending on which students were involved.

One of the first issues to get resurrected shortly after a new shooting is the topic of violence in the media. We can't deny that movies and video games have grown increasingly violent, it is becoming difficult to locate a true family movie. Yet hundreds of thousands of people play the same games, watch the same movies, and read the same books and none of them committed such horrific acts.

What I found with each of these boys is they were all attracted to violent media in some form.

Early on they cited Richard Bachman's short story "Rage" as an influence. "Rage" was the story of a frustrated by taking his classroom hostage, and emerging the hero among his classmates.

After it copies of his book were found in the possession of several of the first school shooters, not only highlighted copies but very well worn. Bachman's creator Stephen King pulled the book from print, stating "The ------- incident was enough for me. I asked my publisher to take the damned thing out of print. They concurred."

Later shooters claimed influences in movies such as "The Basketball Diaries" and "Natural Born Killers."

When you are a violent person you are drawn to violent media. These kids weren't just drawn to it, they were obsessed with it. They did not read the books, watch the movies, or play the games a few times...

They totally immersed themselves in them. They memorized lines, they acted out scenes in their heads, they became obsessed with the imagery. They continually placed themselves inside of these fantasy worlds, until the lines between fantasy and reality blurred.

Combine an unstable mind with violent imagery, and you have a dangerous mix. These same movies when watched by emotionally stable people did not have the same effect, and never will.

When I read these books, watched these movies, and listened to the music I found one strong theme that ran through all of them. In each case the hero of the movie was the killer, students cheered them, crowds gathered to spur them on, and the media worshiped them.

If a part of the fantasy was the sheer violence they fed on, another factor was the hero worship. They didn't want to just go out, they wanted to go out in a blaze of glory. Their fantasies may have failed to live up to their expectations but the media did not.

The media in most cases played right into it. While it was happening and for weeks after they hand fed us every detail they could get. Even seemingly insignificant details became front page news.

The pictures of these boys were broadcast nationally and internationally. Not the pictures of the way their life ended, but the pictures that showed smiling, seemingly normal boys. Had we not known their names, we could have looked through a yearbook and barely even noticed those pictures.

If they were nobodies who wanted to become somebodies, the fastest way to do so was to do something so shocking that the media could not ignore it. The media in their own way, turned them into heroes.

As I gathered data for my novel, one thing kept coming up in article after article. Something the experts had not included in their data, and many seemed to have overlooked entirely.

In all but one case, these boys had been on some type of anti-depressant, ADHD treatment or similar medication. Not only that, time after time I found that their dosages had recently been changed.

Either they had recently been prescribed, changed dosage, or just stopped taking them.

While the percentage is small, studies have confirmed that people already prone to violence mixed with antidepressant's can become a very dangerous threat. While only .31 % of patients taking a placebo experienced a "hostility event" that number doubled to .65 % when they were given the anti-depressant Paxil.

While not everyone who is prescribed these medications can be expected to act out violently, if the propensity for violent behavior is already there, introducing these medications has been proven to double the likely hood of a violent reaction. It's like playing Russian roulette with pills.

A black box warning is now required for all antidepressant's. These medications were made for and tested on adults.

Even in the late teens, the brain is still not done developmentally. Introducing chemicals to an undeveloped brain can and does have dire consequences. Increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors being just one of those consequences. Increased potential for violence being another.

Is it worth it to have a child who is better able to focus in school, when that deadly potential may be there?

I can't in good conscience end this topic without addressing the one thing all school shootings have in common.

Guns.

Americans own over 200 million guns, we can now arm nearly every man, woman and child in the US. Yet the rate of gun ownership has remained steady at about one in three households.

Those who own guns usually own more than one, some own a full arsenal.

Very few of these boys had to look far for the guns they used in the attacks. They were bought legally, taken from friends or family members, or came from their own homes. In only one case was the gun stolen from the unlocked car of a stranger.

Yet many of the guns used were legally owned and locked, the legal owners were not charged in most cases because they had done all they could be expected to do to keep the guns out of the hands of these boys. They were just more determined to obtain the guns than the owners had bargained for.

I have watched the gun debates for years for this reason, and I am still at a loss. How do you remove 200 million guns from circulation when many of them aren't even registered?

How do you remove those guns with the NRA chanting that we all have the right to bear arms? How do we remove guns without violating the rights of those who aren't breaking the law?

Do we have a right to remove the guns from law abiding citizens because of the irresponsibility of non-law abiding citizens? Do we really want to remove all of the guns, or just regulate them heavily, do we really want to give up our freedoms?

Either way you look at it, there are valid points on BOTH sides. The problem is, neither side will ever see eye to eye. It will always be split down the middle, the right will always insist they are right, and so will the left. Everyone else will be stuck in the middle.

When you really think about it, the entire gun debate is a waste of time.

We have incidents where further massacre was stopped by armed staff, we have incidents where unarmed security guards were powerless to stop the attacks on their school.

We also have mass school tragedies that did not involve guns at all.

(Germany 2002) GUNS HEAVILY RESTRICTED - Germany has strict gun laws, however, Robert Steinhaeuser joined an officially accredited club for sport shooting and passed the rigorous German tests required to own a gun. He entered his school and killed killed 17 people, mostly teachers before being restrained and killing himself.

(Michigan 1927) NO GUNS INVOLVED - The worst school tragedy in US history happened in 1927 when farmer, Andrew Kehoe was responsible for a bizarre series of explosions that ripped through Bath. Destroyed were his farmhouse and the local school building. A total of 38 children, and 7 adults were killed, and 61 injured. Had officials not discovered the remaining explosives in time the death toll could have been in the hundreds.

(Japan 2001) NO GUNS INVOLVED - Japan has some of the strictest gun legislation in the world, yet has still had its share of mass violence. People have armed themselves with rat poison, homemade guns, and knives. Mamoru Takuma was armed with a 6-inch kitchen knife, when he wounded 13 first- and second-graders and two teachers. He killed seven girls, ranging in age from seven- to eight-years-old, and one six-year-old boy. He plead guilty and was sentenced to death... at his execution he stated : "I should have used gasoline, so I could have killed more than I did."

(Germany 1964) NO GUNS INVOLVED - Walter Seifert converted a garden sprayer into a flamethrower and filled it with an easily flammable mixture that could deliver a six-meter flame. He took his new flamethrower, a lance that was 1.5 meters long and a homemade iron centrifuge to the Catholic elementary school at Cologne, Volkhoven.

(Sweden 1998) NO GUNS INVOLVED - Shoresh Kaveh was disappointed that his reputation alone did not get him admitted to a dance without paying the cover charge. He and his friends blocked the exits and set fire to the building, 63 were killed and another 200 were injured.

Tragedies are stopped by the presence of guns in some cases. There were some cases where an armed staff member was able to minimize casualties. They happen without guns at all, and they most certainly happen with guns. In this area I am at a loss for a real solution.

So I'll let you debate the need for gun control, responsible ownership, or armed staff among yourselves.

All I will say is that guns are just one of many ingredients that lead to school shootings but they are far from the only factor leading to violence of this sort.

Another important factor was how much the authority figures knew ahead of time. A teacher was aware of violent writings, a principal knew about minor disciplinary problems, a psychiatrist knew about emotional disorders, a court knew about legal troubles.

Violent writings were present in many of the cases, but teachers are not trained psychologists. When reading the writings after the fact it is easy to pick up on certain signals.

They almost always portray a victim rising up against their attackers in a violent manner and emerging the hero. Reports often focused on violent topics, such as Nazism and guns.

The signs were certainly there, but they were vague. Many kids write violent writings at that age. Can you imagine the essays Stephen King must have turned in as a child?

How do you determine which boys are just being creative, and which are offering up a red flag?

It isn't until after the fact that the information comes together and the picture becomes clear. Yet even when concerns were shared with other staff, they were not dealt with. In case after case I found that the information was there, and the red flag was raised but someone dropped the ball.

They either assumed someone else would deal with it, that it was outside of their scope of power, or that it wasn't anything major to be concerned with so they let it slide. There was no chain of command in place, so the information was dropped with deadly consequence.

In every case I studied there was what professionals referred to as "leakage". Meaning the kids leaked the information ahead of time.

These kids told at least one other student, usually more ahead of time. When these people were questioned after the fact they said they did nothing about it because they didn't really believe it.

Many of the kids questioned said they did not feel comfortable going to an adult, they felt the adults wouldn't listen or that they were taught not to "tattle."

In some cases dozens of students knew about the plot beforehand, they even gathered to watch that morning just to see if it would really happen.

Prior to Columbine, local law enforcement officers were handed death threats, detailed bomb making instructions, and even details on the bomb tests. This information was all housed on a personal website.

Law enforcement even went as far as obtaining a search warrant... but failed to execute it. After the criminal investigation began, that information disappeared for a time, only to be retrieved by a reporter. Up to that point law enforcement denied it existed at all.

Children knew, parents knew, teachers knew.

Children are afraid adults wont listen, adults are afraid other adults wont listen. In nearly every case it came down to someone who had the power to stop it from happening, people were afraid to upset people if it all turned out to be nothing, so they did nothing.

We can't afford to sit back and do nothing anymore.

Imagine for a moment living in a world where you felt powerless. Real life is constantly kicking you in the teeth, so you turn inward to a fantasy world.

That's exactly what many of these boys did. The fantasy world eventually took over the real world, and that line blurred. We have already talked about that.

Well, when studying these boys I noticed something else recurring. What looked on the surface to be narcissism, but that was only on the surface. They held a vision of themselves as being higher than others, often referring to themselves as godlike.

In the public writings they referenced Darwinism, and this feeling of being above normal human beings. They had become so cynical about life that they saw their lack of emotion or feeling towards their fellow human beings as a sort of a gift.

They had freed themselves of a conscience, but when I read their more private writings it was clear they really hadn't.

Were they trying to convince us they were god, or were they trying to convince themselves?

A self professed Nazi on a white supremacy board who spewed hate, turned around on supernatural board and said that he was interested in Nazi's but did not agree with what they had done, even seemed apologetic for mentioning it.

The boy on the supernatural board was polite, likeable, and had his feelings hurt when someone mentioned a topic that reminded him of the death of his father. He was concerned with what seemed to him to be bad omens, and said he wanted to live.

Yet the other boy he became on the Nazi board was filled with hate and discontent, he wanted to know what he could do to further the Nazi cause.

Over and over I saw boys who professed to be free of emotions publicly, but wrote compassionate poetry. Now if any of us still have a connection to our teenage selves knows that trying on new identities was par for the course, especially those who had difficult childhoods.

Did imagining themselves to be god give them that power they sought, that control they desperately needed over their lives? Who were they really trying to convince?

More than two years of my life have gone into researching this subject.

While I agree with many of the popular beliefs regarding school shootings I fear that focusing on one factor minimizes the effects of the others. I hope you understand my use of the recipe analogy now, it takes many ingredients to create a school shooter.

When we focus on just one aspect such as the guns, or the violent media, we miss out on the other important factors.

I wish that someone could find an answer to prevent further shootings but I'm afraid Brooks Brown was right. There are no easy answers.

As parents we can do our part by monitoring our children's activities, and those of their friends, encouraging healthy ways of dealing with emotional turmoil, being aware of interests that are becoming obsessions.

Be aware of propensity towards violence and seek help. It is not normal to be obsessed with guns or violence, if your child is showing those signs get them the help they need. Know when to seek help.

As parents we can also know who our kids friends are, and what they are doing. Listen to them when they talk, and if one of their friends seems to be in trouble try to find them some help.

Call the school, report it to law enforcement or social services if you believe imminent danger is present.

We can see to it that these kids always have a safe adult to go to with concerns. We can teach our children to tell us when they see something amiss, and make sure that it is handled properly or hold our school staff responsible for lack of action.

Our schools can implement strong no bullying policy, and strong anti-bullying programs should be offered to the entire school.

We need more trained counselors working in our schools, and we should encourage stronger peer counseling programs.

Always offer the information for a crisis hotline and SAFE 2 TELL program throughout the school.

We need to start treating all kids equally. Teachers and staff who look the other way need to be replaced. We need to put as much focus on education as we do on sports and not allow anyone to hold a higher position in the school hierarchy than another.

If harassment and bullying are reported they must be taken seriously.

We can find a way to start a central place for concerns about specific kids. The school counselors would be the ideal place, where all teachers, principals, law enforcement and courts report to.

Where the kids know they can go if a student makes a threat. Counselors who are trained to spot warning signs, and know what to do when they see them.

Non-uniformed security has been proven to help, with their job being not just to protect the school but to interact with the students. Retired police officers are often perfect for the job, and they enjoy the work.

Many of us may not be comfortable with an armed officer roaming our children's campus, but making sure tasers are available to these officers could save many lives in the long run.

Having doors that can be fully secured in the case of an emergency, fitted with safety glass, and safe rooms for students and teachers to go to that can be locked from the inside.

We can start insisting that our government make educating our children and making their schools safe a priority. When we can spend trillions of dollars on a war in another country but we can't educate our children properly something is wrong.

When we ask ourselves why our children have turned violent, we can ask ourselves how we expect them to act otherwise when we have been such very poor examples.

Doctors should not place our children on a medication that has not been tested and approved for adolescents.

They need to teach parents to monitor dosages and behaviors and report any concerns immediately, with frequent follow-ups.

Anti-depressants are not supposed to be a fix-all. ADHD medications are a beginning, but not a cure-all. Too many parents are counting on pills to do their parenting for them.

There is a deeper problem that needs to be followed up with a psychiatrist on a regular basis. You wouldn't treat a broken bone with pills alone, nor should you treat a broken child so.

Our children need us more now than ever. If it takes a village to raise a child, then it is time to admit that we as a village have failed. We can't keep doing the same things over and over and expecting different results.

I think we really do tend to focus on easy answers.

We want one pill to fix it all. We want a school to fix it all. A law to fix it all. That is never going to happen, until we address the whole problem, we cannot find a whole solution.

We can't find any easy answers, but we can all become a part of the solution.

After sharing this information with the public, many people said they felt their eyes had been opened. Yet I was still surprised at the number of people who still tended towards isolating one single factor. So a second final word.

Before you leave this page, please remember that there is a recipe for everything in life. We did not become who we are today because of one single factor, and neither did these boys.

There were many factors at work, and until we, as a society, can accept that and work towards addressing ALL of the factors involved. We will never move forward.

It wasn't just the guns, it wasn't just the pills, it wasn't just the violent media, and it wasn't just the media sensationalism. How we handle subsequent school shootings can very well determine whether or not they continue.

The recent school shooting in Winneden, Germany proved that we have learned very little. it was still sensationalized. More focus was still placed on the shooter than the victims, and until we learn to portray these boys only as killers and the victims as the heroes there is little hope...