Posted on 10/10/2009 4:18:47 PM PDT by real saxophonist
Dylan Klebold's mom speaks in "O" magazine
"No inkling" of plans for Columbine massacre
By The Denver Post
Posted: 10/10/2009
Susan Klebold wrote an essay in the November issue of O magazine. (Denver Post file photo )An essay by the mother of Columbine killer Dylan Klebold says she had "no inkling" of her son's inner turmoil, and her examination of his journals has prompted her to learn about suicide in an effort to understand the school shooting.
The essay by Susan Klebold, which appears in the November issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, explores her son's role in the 1999 massacre where he and co-conspirator Eric Harris killed 12 students and a teacher and left two dozen wounded before killing themselves.
Neither family has spoken at length in the aftermath of what at the time marked the most deadly school shooting in U.S. history. Pending litigation contributed to the silence for several years, but even with the lawsuits resolved, repeated requests for interviews have been turned down.
In a news release, Oprah Winfrey also noted that Susan Klebold had declined interview requests but then, several months ago, agreed to write about her personal experience. The magazine released a few advance excerpts.
"From the writings Dylan left behind, criminal psychologists have concluded that he was depressed and suicidal," Susan Klebold wrote in one passage. "When I first saw copied pages of these writings, they broke my heart. I'd had no inkling of the battle Dylan was waging in his mind."
She added: "Dylan's participation in the massacre was impossible for me to accept until I began to connect it to his own death. Once I saw his journals, it was clear to me that Dylan entered the school with the intention of dying there. And so in order to understand what he might have been thinking, I started to learn all I could about suicide."
Susan Klebold received no payment for the essay, said a magazine spokesperson, but hoped to "raise suicide awareness and to generate support for organizations such as The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the American Association of Suicidology."
A spokesperson for the Klebolds' attorney, Gary Lozow, would not field questions and said that the Klebold family would have no further comment.
The magazine hits newsstands on Tuesday.
In another passage, Susan Klebold recounted the early morning before the violence began:
"Early on April 20, I was getting dressed for work when I heard Dylan bound down the stairs and open the front door. Wondering why he was in such a hurry when he could have slept another 20 minutes, I poked my head out of the bedroom. 'Dyl?' All he said was 'Bye.' The front door slammed, and his car sped down the driveway. His voice had sounded sharp. I figured he was mad because he'd had to get up early to give someone a lift to class. I had no idea that I had just heard his voice for the last time."
Another excerpt describes her struggle to come to grips with the tragedy.
"For the rest of my life, I will be haunted by the horror and anguish Dylan caused," she wrote. "I cannot look at a child in a grocery store or on the street without thinking about how my son's schoolmates spent the last moments of their lives. Dylan changed everything I believed about myself, about God, about family, and about love."
She doesn;t need my forgiveness, she needs God’s forgiveness.
You make a valid point, they killed themselves when cornered. Lots of murderers kill themselves under those circumstances, it’s still called suicide. The headlines are full of Murder/Suicide.
She is his mom, God gave her that child to raise and she now lives with the consequences. Every day of her life.
What is the name of that book? and author? Thanks.
Seriously, have you ever studied the Lord’s Prayer?
NOOOOOO...I’ve NEVER read it....wow, maybe I should look into it. Thanks!!!!
The book is called Columbine and it’s by Dave Cullen. Warning: you will not be able to put it down.
This post is disturbing...so do you think that our prisons are full of only children and all people with siblings are leading full and productive lives?
How about some people are sick and/or evil due to many possible factors and some are not. I'm not sure that the number of siblings or sharing a room with a sibling is a contributing factor.
That is an astounding leap of non-logic. My first point was that the little punk couldn’t have stockpiled his weapons if he hadn’t had privacy. My second was that if he’d been part of a close family he might not have had the urge to stockpile them in the first place.
No the basic fact is the SOME moms don't know what their kids are doing, working or not.
Way to hold the fathers accountable as well..how about holding the kids accountable for something.
It is possible for good or great parents to have kids that go bad.
The sense of isolation and aloneness can be more accute for only children.
The child was sick, that I do agree with..I don't know what kind of relationship his family had. Even if he did have siblings, he probably wouldn't have been sharing a room, I just find that an 'astounding' leap as well!!
And if he was sharing a room he would have probably found out another way to carry out his plan.
I had 3 siblings and as a teen remember feeling isolated and alone much of the time. I think that parents have a responsibility to help their children find a passion or activities to keep them busy and social - only children or not!
Again, how you leapt from Dylan Klebold’s only-childness to “all only children” is astounding. Why don’t you just admit you over-reached and let it go, instead of trying to justify it?
I have to get ready for church, back later.
Ah, so it’s about “inner turmoil”, “personal battles” and “suicide” now? This kid wanted to kill, the Mother needs to own up to it and we all need to figure out how she created him with society’s help.
I don’t recall.
Perhaps the good Doc can recall statistics better than I on such matters.
—do only children end up in trouble statistically more often than those with siblings.
My best guess is that
that issue
is a lesser discrimminating variable.
PARENTING is the KEY variable.
However, all other things held equal . . . I don’t know. Great question.
We know sufficiently.
Various levels of ATTACHMENT DISORDERed parenting
impact different genetic personality variables in a range of ways . . . for many children . . . most children . . . devastating ways to varying degrees of devastation.
That’s my fierce conviction. I have seen no research to counter that conviction. The more I see deepens that conviction.
Perhaps the good Doc will disagree. He’s certainly closer to the criminal justice system than I am or have been.
uh, no we don't.
Here a common story from a prison setting, buts it’s common because of the amount of truth. Mother’s day is by far the 2nd busiest mail day in prison (2nd to Christmas). There is no noticeable bump on Father’s day.
Which is not to say every child raised without a mother will grow up to be a criminal. But fathers (or valued male father figures) seem to teach important lessons to children. I have coached middle school football and wrestling for a couple of years on my free time. You can always tell those kids with no father figure in their life. The just have a different view of the world. I’m not sure if I could put my finger on what exactly, entitilement? Seeing less of a need to work for what they want? Lack of limits? Something in that mix. I always try to fill that role with these kids but by that time it often too late.
hmm, not sure about only child one way or another.
Couple things off the top of my head, I would guess that the rate of absent fathers is higher with one child than multiple children. I also wonder if having a brother is more important than a sister. I seem to remember plenty of criminals with all women in their house (mom, grandmother, sisters, aunt, etc). I wonder if having a brother means more consequeces for infringing on anothers rights. In others words, you steal and you get punched (by a brother not a father) rather than lectured. Just speculating.
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