Posted on 05/13/2012 12:12:29 PM PDT by KantianBurke
One day last summer, Anne and her husband, Miguel, took their 9-year-old son, Michael, to a Florida elementary school for the first day of what the family chose to call “summer camp.” For years, Anne and Miguel have struggled to understand their eldest son, an elegant boy with high-planed cheeks, wide eyes and curly light brown hair, whose periodic rages alternate with moments of chilly detachment. Michael’s eight-week program was, in reality, a highly structured psychological study — less summer camp than camp of last resort.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
There is no doubt that he is clinically pyschopathic (2 standard deviations in definition above others who are described as clinically pyschopathic).
Blaming the parents for the child's behavior is certainly rational in terms of a search for causality.
But the problem is not who caused it...but who has it.
Michael has it!
I thought of that when I read that same comment from the boy. Just a frightening situation for the parents and other kids.
I’m in your camp. I can’t believe everyone is saying, “Oh, I was a bad kid, too. I grew up. I got better.” Did you READ the article?
As much as the parents may love him, this is not just a “bad kid.” They are endangering the lives of their other children. This kid needs to be taken out of the home for their safety.
If he’s going to be saved, it’ll take more than parental love. He needs the same sort of round-the-clock professional help he’d get if he had a terminal disease.
This sort of thing doesn’t get better.
People do evil things of course but science is showing there is a medical reason for much of it. 500 years ago people thought mental illness was caused by demons and goblins. Now we know it is a brain chemical imbalance in most cases.
You can still be religious and believe in evil but should accept modern science. Science and religion can and should/must go together.
The evil is the the brain malfunction IMO. I'm not saying this is 100% the case for all people and not letting what people do as evil off the hook.
This kid needs to be taken out of the home for their safety.
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And put WHERE?
Foster homes? Even theraputic trained foster homes wont be a help here.
There are no longer any state institutions tht can help him.
I thought the same thing. That response was not that of a child.
Whether this was supposed to be sarcasm I cannot tell — but as he’s carried things to the point of hurting his own self, it does not look like his internal calculus weighs pain very heavily any more. This is not your normal coward. This is twisted.
It could be a parrot of something the parent or others have said.
Anne is a strict disciplinarian, she said, particularly with Michael, who she worries would otherwise simply run wild. She mentioned an episode of “Criminal Minds” that terrified her, in which a couple’s younger son was murdered by his older brother. “In the show, the older brother didn’t show any remorse. He just said, ‘He deserved it, because he broke my plane.’ When I saw that, I said, ‘Oh my God, I so don’t need that episode to be my life story down the line.’ ” She laughed awkwardly, then shook her head. “I’ve always said that Michael will grow up to be either a Nobel Prize winner or a serial killer."
I can't imagine how awful it would be to have a child like that. Reading the article, he doesn't seem like a bad child - he seems evil.
I’m a teacher & witness kids like this too much. What is scary is that parents have NO idea that their kids are in a room w/these types of children & in danger because of their violent tendencies.
Violent children should NOT be mainstreamed.
The Childhood Psychopath: Bad Seed or Bad Parents?
In 1979, sixteen-year-old Brenda Spencer received a rifle for her birthday. She used it to shoot kids at an elementary school near her San Diego home, wounding nine and killing two. A reporter asked her later why she had done it. Her answer: “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day.”
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/criminal_mind/psychology/psychopath/1.html
According to Canadian theorist Dr. David Lykken, psychopaths are set apart. They differ in temperament from other children and are at greater risk for delinquency. He has looked at the statistics on juvenile crime and concludes that only a few children with antisocial tendencies were born with such a predisposition. They are fearless and probably have a weak behavioral inhibition system. However, Lykken contends that most antisocial behaviors in children are caused by poor parentingabsent fathers and inadequate mothers who fail to properly socialize their child. Perhaps the child frustrates them or perhaps their parenting skills are subnormal. Either way, the child acts out. Lykken calls these children sociopaths and he believes that we can decrease their numbers with better social skills. He does acknowledge the twin studies that support the view that criminality has a substantial heritability factor, but claims that traits like fearlessness, aggressiveness, and sensation seeking, all of which contribute to antisocial behavior, can be properly channeled toward better things. It is up to parents to do this, and where parenting fails, the child with those traits may express them through violence. In other words, in his opinion, even the child most prone to psychopathy via inherited traits can be guided through good parenting toward using those traits in prosocial ways.
“All” of us?
I never met one, and was pubskewled from the word go.
I met a few slackers, and a few bullies, but even the most diabolical one (and I’d name and shame him if I could) still would not hold a candle to the subject of this account.
The sole one I know who did get into serious trouble (killed someone as it turned out) was an oddball who lived across the street but wasn’t all that known for cutting up. Maybe the most obnoxious thing he did was to play rock music out of his bedroom window, for a few minutes during the day. (I answered him with the theme from “Batman.”) And shot off illicit fireworks with my brother. I.e., near normal for a rambunctious kid. All that changed when he got involved in illicit drug deals, and he shot somebody.
As a troublesome child myself (many years ago)...I am thinking that they should dig deeper than superficial (and politically correct) science.
This child seems to be a victim of metaphysical manipulation. Not certain of course...just helpful hints.
His mother...
former elementary-school teacher with a degree in child psychology, Anne admitted feeling frustrated despite her training
Most of what we consider evil is undoubtedly physiological in nature. With advances in science, especial the advent of the FMRI in psycho/neuro studies we have learned that a lot of what we once believed were simple self-control issues are much deeper.
Even something as benign as gambling has proven to be largely physiological. When shown pictures of slot machine windows, those predisposed to compulsive gambling (even those who have no gambling experience) show the same activation of pleasure centers in the brain when shown near misses as when shown winners. Normal brains only show activity in the pleasure centers when shown winners.
Studies of cold blood killers, meaning those who kill for pleasure or profit without anger, rage, or fear have shown completely abnormal brain activity when compared to normally inhibited people.
To answer your question about evil? No, I don't believe in a spiritual evil that invades otherwise normal people and makes them do bad things.
This kid is speaking above his grade IMO (and yours)...time for a thorough exam.
Mind vs. body is a fascinating topic. A metaphysical world wouldn’t necessarily negate any of the scientific findings you are talking about. If there is a spirit that can “use” a brain, then you might see that brain used differently just as a piano might be played differently in different styles of music. In fact I do firmly believe in such a world, but also that God has not given mankind extensive means of performing independent research about it, perhaps because that would be too dangerous.
Well said, and 100% correct.
It sounds like someone needs a good ass whipping.
If you would promise adherence to intellectual honesty, I can prove that God exists and Jesus is His son.
Why would I waste so much time...because you will thank me forever.
I don't need your thanks...but you will appreciate it greatly!
We who love Yeshuah serve Him always...and serve all those who He loves...in this case...you!
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