He brought a gun to school. His parents knew it. His parents bought it for HIM. His mother told him not to get caught.

The school found indications of mental problems. They scheduled counseling for him at the meeting with them That day. The school acted responsibly in seeking help for the teen. They did not know he had a weapon. The parents did. Also consider that schools have been restricted in actions "against" students. Mom even told the kid not to get caught. This sounds like a deadly, dysfunctional family.

He brought a gun to school. His parents knew it. His parents bought it for HIM. His mother told him not to get caught.

The school found indications of mental problems. They scheduled counseling for him at the meeting with them That day. The school acted responsibly in seeking help for the teen. They did not know he had a weapon. The parents did. Also consider that schools have been restricted in actions "against" students. The fact that Mom told the kid not to get caught did it for us. This sounds like a deadly, dysfunctional family.

Our family lives close to the community.

Bad idea. Kids are in school to grow their brains properly. Guns should not be a part of school, Church, typical public gatherings. The kids have enough challenges, especially after the trauma of the last 2 years.

That may be a catalyst but it is not a cause. Plenty of kids got bullied back in the day as well. None that I ever knew of shot up the school because of it.

Good parenting teaches how to handle such situations.

There are some here in The Villages that aren't fully developed also...

:MOJE_whot::a040::bigbow:

Absolute waste of time to even think about anything that media, twitter or other media say.

A dear friend who I worked with for years, has a daughter in that school. Her daughter was not one of the fatalities, or physically shot. Some were friends, the rest she knew, it’s a small community compared to other areas.

I have spoken with my friend several times, grateful her daughter is physically fine, but mentally time will tell. It’s easy to just get info from the media. It’s hard when it’s in your circle.

As for the parents arrest, Michigan’s prosecutor has my high regards. As a parent, and grandparent, I could truthfully say, I would not be a good candidate for the jury pool, for the parents or their son.

Check out the real story, not the media on TV. The facts of what the parents did and did not do to stop their son, warrants their arrest.

Sadly we hear about these terrible going ons in schools today at least once a month where innocent children are killed by some other disturbed child. Some teachers and professors for decades have poisoned the minds of our youth leaving them confused and angry, they in turn create chaos, violence and murders.When the majority of us went to school these types of murders were unheard of. Our society has become much more dangerous and taking a persons life means absolutely nothing to some.

Son bragged on social media the gun was his new Christmas present and so did mom say they were shooting the gun together which was his Christmas present. Sadly, it belonged to the kid. The parents may pay for their stupidity.

I can't believe anyone would question this kid being tried as an adult - he killed 4 innocent kids and wounded many others with the intention of killing many more. He needs to be in prison for life - not in a juvenile detention center!!!! I can just imagine how that thought process would change if it was "your" child that was murdered!!!!!

So, where do you feel people will find the "real story" not the media on TV? I don't watch TV. What I've seen were videos from the Sheriff's office, live broadcasts online on various media, including the network news (but not exclusively network news).

I've read op-eds and analyses (neither of which are actual information/news) on assorted online media websites (such as the Hill and yes even Breitbart).

Turns out, the information I've seen from various online sources has provided me with an opinion:

The kid is 100% guilty of murder. The parents are 100% complicit in the murder, I'd charge them with accessory, negligence, homicide, federal counts of evasion (since they were in the process of planning to cross the Canadian border when they were caught in the warehouse in a border town), child abuse, child negligence, child abandonment, for starters.

The kid needs to be put away for a long time. He should be put in whatever equivalent Juvenile Detention has for a maximum security facility until he turns 16, and then transferred to adult prison. He should not be in adult prison until he turns 16 though.

He should also be on track to complete his high school education, get some actual skills, and be put on some kind of work detail in prison. He needs to be punished, but he's not so old that he can't be rehabilitated. He needs to have that opportunity. While he's in prison.

well, since the US lags far behind in maternal and paternal leave, child care support, universal health coverage--all of which would help alleviate stresses on parents, you may have something there.

otherwise, I would guess other countries have bad parents, too.

I haven't read about any kid that didn't have access to a gun do any of the things you mentioned. the Columbine kids had explosives but mainly killed with guns. Guns are what all these incidents have in common.

This post reeks of implicit bias and white privilege.

Didn't you hear? Three teenagers charged with killing high school classmate with knife and sword | The Independent

Third teen in custody in deadly hammer attack | CNN

Strangled with wire, stabbed with stick: 4 Youths Tied to Secret Club Seized in Killing - Los Angeles Times

stun gun: Teens get maximum sentence in death of Uber Eats driver

While 39 and not a teenager, he inflicted multiple vehicular homicides and injuries. Wisconsin: Five dead after car ploughs into Waukesha Christmas parade - BBC News

The biggest reason for gun deaths in America is suicide, by a very large margin...

Only if you insist on viewing it thru that prism...

If the gun was purchased new then there is a gun lock included in the box the gun came in. This is a federal requirement. If it was a used gun then it is very possible there was no lock included in the sale.

An 18 year old can obtain a commercial drivers license that will allow him/her to drive 60,000 lb tractor trailer.

Have a valid regular (non-commercial) driver’s license and be at least 18 years old (in most states).
Be at least 21 years old:
To drive a commercial motor vehicle across state lines (interstate).
To drive a commercial motor vehicle that contains hazardous materials.
Have at least one or two years of driving experience (depending on the state)

That was my thought, as well. What kind of sense does that make? Giving an unstable, immature person a gun for a gift. Too bad the money wasn't sped on counseling. Seems like that just happened in another recent shooting. I am glad to see the parents are being charged, whatever that charge ends up being.

What part off Help Help Help didn't they understand !!!!!!
Police should have been called immediately !

Could have been avoided

Here's the difference between all those things and shootings:

A knife's primary purpose is to cut things. Killing people is one of many results that can come from using a knife to cut things, but killing people is not its primary purpose.

A sword - is definitely made to kill people. But it can kill only one person at a time, somewhat slowly, slow enough that anyone else in close proximity can easily get away. It is close-range exclusively - throwing swords is not a thing.

Hammer's primary function is to drive nails, stakes, and similar into surfaces, and remove those nails, stakes, and similar from those surfaces. Secondary function is to secure things that are already placed down to ensure a good fit (such as floor planks, though usually a rubber mallet would be more efficient). Hammers are not intended to be weapons at all, regardless of how they are eventually used.

Wires have many functions - killing is not an -intended- function of them, regardless of how they end up being used.

Stun guns are absolutely weapons - that are intended to cause pain and halt of movement, instead of causing death. Regardless of the ultimate result.

Motor vehicles primary function is to transport people and things from point A to point B. Regardless of how it ends up being used.

Guns with live ammunition - primary purpose - is to kill. People, animals - but that is what they're for. They aren't made to drive nails through wood. They can't get you from point A to point B. They can't cut a steak or strip the skin off a fish. You can't use a gun to network your computer system. No - it's #1 primary function - the reason it exists, the reason people get trained to use them - is to kill.

Teacher Rant, a long one, following. . .
 

I decided to delete my long post written here this morning on the subject of how different things are now for teachers. I got out just in time.

Wrote it. Then deleted it. Twice. Good exercise though.

Boomer

Nothing mentioned has a will of it's own.

But hey! If your aim is to kill a lot of people in a very short time, a truckload of fertilizer serves admirably. Just ask Timothy McVeigh.

i think you are correct, my friend. a perfect storm of circumstances

Guns are valuable for self defense. Many people are alive today because they used a gun in self defense. The problem is not the gun, per se, it is the user. Guns do not go off by themselves no matter what Alec Baldwin alleges.

A classmate friend of mine had an older brother who taught mathematics at the junior high school we attended. It was located in a good part of town. Many parents were professionals or owned businesses. We were the HS class of 1960. Anyway, in 1976 my friend and I reconnected and we visited his then retired older brother who with the retired shop teacher were building homes. It turns out both teachers had retired in their early to mid fifties literally the first day they could. I asked them why. Their reply was "The kids changed." Now that was 45 years ago. It was a cakewalk compared to today. Those "kids who had changed" are the parents and grandparents of today's kids which is telling.

It's high time for adults to be held accountable for their children shooting other students. These parents were totally irresponsible.

I'm amazed that people want to hold the school accountable. BUT it's the parent's responsibility to take the advice of the school and its teachers. The school told the parents the boy needed counseling and the parents did nothing.

The parents bought the gun for their child - a semiautomatic at that. I want law enforcement to charge more parents for these killings. I don't want to worry about my grandchildren at school.

Michigan superintendent announces independent investigation of actions leading up to Oxford High shooting | Fox News

Oxford School officials could be charged in deadly Michigan shooting: prosecutor | Fox News

Odd... Mine have never killed anything (except for some clay targets and paper)...

I must be using them wrong...

School shooter
 

This isn’t the place to discuss politics or news or social events outside the Villages!!!!

You might educate yourself on this criminal case before posting any opinion as you are going to get jumped bad! Let’s not sympathize for some mentally ill evil punk kid who just murdered other kids at a school taking away their lives and ruining hundreds of other lives to include the public who is outraged right now!!!! Go on court TV to discuss that stuff with those listings on the case there! Plenty of others have opinions there you can banter with! Here we are trying to be retired from our jobs and from the rest of the evil world and you should too!!!! Less stress. Less anger. More Happiness. More Peace! Less hate! That’s what matters now.

Being a former school counselor we were bound to report to authorities or face liability ..so I question why the school itself didn’t do more than inform the parents. Think more needs to be investigated.

I guess you never used a hammer gun (live load) to drive a nail into concrete.:icon_wink:

You got it wrong. People don't kill, guns kill. Far as I know, none of mine have killed either. OF course, some of them may have before I owned them.

I remember back in the 70's when I arrived on a domestic call, a guy came out of the house kind of bloody and in disarray. He had just sunk an ax blade into the forehead of his wife. He said, "I didn't do it. I don't know how that happened." It was obvious that the ax was the perpetrator. :1rotfl:

Even an umbrella can be used to assault and possibly kill someone.

Video: Alec Baldwin Chases After Reporter in NYC, Where He's Set to Host an Awards Gala

https://www.geriwalton.com/the-umbrella-as-weapon/

I took the time to read each of your citations and noted that none of them happened in a school. so, yes, others weapons can kill....but there seems to be some allure to gunning fellow students in the schools.

None of them happened in a school. I wanted to illustrate that many things can be used as weapons and have by teenagers.

I agree with you that schools are no place children should secretly bring guns. Back in 1959 a problem kid I knew all too well brought a .22 rifle to school to use to threaten another boy who allegedly had showed an interest in his girlfriend. He had stuffed the rifle down his Levi's pant leg and was comically walking around stiff legged. At some point one or more male teachers spotted him and dealt with it. He should have been expelled but continued attending school apparently without a hiccup.

One of my classmates became an architect who designed commercial buildings, including schools. When I chatted with him at the 30th reunion he told me he was designing schools set up with metal detectors to screen entering students and other security features. I responded that sounds like what is built into prisons. He sadly nodded his head. What has this world come to?

Also at that reunion in 1990 we toured our old HS. It had a police substation installed in it. The neighborhood had radically changed and that area had become know as the "war zone". International District, Albuquerque, New Mexico - Wikipedia