[Zevonismymuse]

I think these folks have some serious denial. It may not have been their fault, but their son was their responsibility. They obviously failed on some level. And I resent the way they attempt to blame jocks and bullying.

[kms61]

Particularly since those two were prone to bullying other kids themselves.

Someone posted an article a while back where a psychiatrist had analyzed the journals of Harris and Klebold and concluded that one of them (forget which) was an ordinary depressed kid who probably could have been salvaged if he had gotten away from his parther and gotten some psychiatric help. The other kid, though, was a budding psychopath who was bent on havoc, and nothing and no one could have stopped him. If he hadn't shot up Columbine he would have done something else eventually.

[cherry]

I do believe that the "toxic Culture" prodes kids like Harris and Klebold to act....

Look at our world.....there is diminishing love , committment , caring, affection ........

I think we try to replace all that with material goods.....bet Dylan had anything he wanted....

sometimes , people that are profoundly sad or depressed once they develop a "plan" or and "out" can go about their business with levity....like looking at dorm rooms....

[E. Pluribus Unum]

They obviously failed on some level.

So have you.

[hershey]

I agree, but bullying in schools has made generations of kids miserable. Adolescence is hard enough, but to be terrified to go to school because you know you'll be the butt of endless jokes and physical abuse is a living nightmare. If you're different, don't fit in, you get picked on, and it starts way back in kindergarten. The parents failed to deal with their son's predicament, but they had to know he wasn't happy. If he didn't want to talk to them, and most kids prefer not to confide stuff like this to their parents, they should have gone down to the school and had a talk with the guidance counselor. Usually, they know what's going on. And that's another thing. Why did the school allow a climate where the only remedy these kids could come up with was killing as many of their classmates as possible? I hope somebody sued the school.

[dagoofyfoot]

They obviously failed on some level.


I disagree...


In the generation I was born, couples usually had large families, say like 5 to 7 children.
The parents were usually religeous and worked hard to provide.


However is seemed that in almost every large family, one kid would go south on them. The majority of the kids would become productive members of society, but there would be that one...the rebel.


How do you explain that? Same parents...and one bad apple...

[NYCVirago]

I think these folks have some serious denial. It may not have been their fault, but their son was their responsibility. They obviously failed on some level. And I resent the way they attempt to blame jocks and bullying.

Yep, especially when their son was bullying at least one kid himself, and got in trouble with the law for it, way before the murders. That kid (and his father) knew that Klebold and Harris were bad news; why didn't their parents notice, especially after the police got involved?

[Euro-American Scum]

I think these folks have some serious denial. It may not have been their fault, but their son was their responsibility. They obviously failed on some level.

This is an age-old problem with no simple answer, IMO.

I recently had occasion to revisit a small, regional evancelical church I used to attend. It has since grown into a massive southern California mega church in the ten years I've been gone.

The pastor is one of the finest teachers of God's Word I've ever encountered. Still. He's lost nothing of his ability to teach as I discovered last Sunday after many years of being away.

But, during the years of church growth, he steadfastly held to the principle that if you pour the Word of God into your kids, you will raise Godly children. And, of course, the flip side of this corollary is that if you fail to do this, your kids will stumble.

Well, fast forward ten years. His oldest daughter -- just turned 30 had a baby out of wedlock. The youngest girl just got tossed out of a local Southern California university for poor grades due to an arrest for possession of crack cocaine with intent to sell. His two sons are in their mid-20s. And in an article in a local paper in 2001, he swore they would be the first to enlist to defend America after 9/11. Three years later, they are laying around the house all day and drag racing up and down the local boulevard all night.

Now, it could be that you can do the devotions and pour the Word of God into your kids and they will still go out there and screw up. It could very well be just that simple. Certainly these young people are responsible for their own actions.

Or, it could be that, as children, they just didn't respond to the cubbyhole they were slammed into by a father who worked 18-hour days, 6-day weeks, to build this massive church. Kids know when they're being chucked aside. And maybe a half-hour every day for a quick devotional just wasn't enough. ("Here's the Word of God, kid. Now get out of my face, while I build my church.") How's the old saying go? You can fool a fool, but you can't kid a kid.

So, I don't know the answer. At what point do parents become negligent? At what further point do they become responsible for a Klebold/Harris bloodbath?

I only know adult children who have been screwing up and sluffing off better take a good hard look in the mirror. And parents who indulge them better do the same. Beyond that, I have no answers.