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I understand what you're saying about the amount of information available now, but when I was growing up if these types of crimes existed, they happened somewhere else. It didn't happen here.
My husband and I made a conscious decision to move back "home" because we wanted a safe, secure place to raise our children. We knew that it limited his income prospects, but it was a price we were willing to pay.
We can still leave our keys in our car and leave our houses unlocked. Fed ex can leave a package on our front steps and it will be there when we get home. It's a good place to live and raise a family.
I did not know this boy or his family. I'm rather antisocial. Friends of my children did know him and by all accounts he was a good kid. We never really know what happens in the minds of other people, or what is going on in their home. That has not changed.
I think that perhaps the schools in this area have felt a little too secure themselves. Bullying is viewed as "boys will be boys".
I was stunned at a conversation with one of my twin's friends. He said (about the boy's death) that "it was unavoidable. What else is going to happen when you walk into a school with loaded guns? You have two choices, shoot yourself or have the police shoot you." WHAT? How about option 3, put the guns down and everyone leaves alive? The boy I was talking to did not actually concider that as an option!
Hype does sell. Who would watch the news if they came on and said "nothing horrible happened today. The sun was shinning and everyone put sun screen on before they went outside."
I am rambling I know, I'm trying very hard to process something that has no explaination.
At the news conference announcing that poor boy's death one spokesperson said "the one person that could tell us why this happened is dead, we may never get any answers." I find this unacceptable! I know logically it is accurate, but I want answers! I want to know what would make a seemingly normal boy go so far over the edge that he felt this was his best plan of action.
There is a reason adults make decisions for teenagers. They think they know a lot more than they do. They don't realize that things change. Did the adults in this boy's life fail him or was he an expert at hiding things? Was this his first cry for help?
I do respect the family's right to privacy. Their whole world just crashed! I could not recover from the loss of my child. A loss in this manner would bring such huge guilt issues with it. Hindsight is 20/20.
I guess what scares the hell out of me is that there are no answers. There is no way to solve this problem.
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I've been married for 24 years and have four wonderful children.
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