Resolving the Sandy Hook dilemma

[03Lightningrocks]

Add a society that has more than quadrupled the prescriptions of mind altering- anti depressant drugs for children in the past decade. Drugs such as Paxil and Prozac with known side effects such as suicide, mania, agitation,paranoid reaction, psychosis, hostility, hallucinations, abnormal thinking,depersonalization among others.

It's likely Lanza was taking Prozac since he was diagnosed with autism. No proof yet. He may have been spoiled, unaccountable. He may have been desensitized by video games. BUT, he would have had to be completely and totally out of his mind, no emotion whatsoever to commit such a heinous act. XBox isn't that powerful. MTV isn't that powerful. Psychiatric drugs are.

For example:

Columbine mass-killer Eric Harris was taking Luvox

Patrick Purdy went on a schoolyard shooting -was taking the antipsychotic drug Thorazine.

Kip Kinkel opened fire on his classmates. 1098 He had been prescribed both Prozac and Ritalin.

The list goes on and on yet the pharmaceutical companies aren't compelled to show up at Bidens anti- gun comity.

This is another good point. Mine are all grown, but from talking to guys that work for me, I can say that I am stunned at how many claim they have been told they have kids that have add. Then they go on to say that the kid is being put on meds for it. I don't know if there is something in our environment causing more kids to have mental disorders or the system is geared to control kids who don't necessarily fall in line with the other sheep. My suspicion is the latter.

I agree with you. Doping up all these kids may be causing more harm than good.

Quite a few years ago, when I was stationed in Northern California the first time, they tried to tell us that my son had ADD...turned out to be a teacher that just didn't like boys in her classroom and didn't want to devote any energy to teaching them. She made him sit out in the hallway a lot of the time for the tiniest little things. I deployed a lot back then and so my wife had to deal with it, and she did. She got my son moved to a different class and he did pretty well. He never really liked school all that much after that, though; no surprise why, to me anyway.

That is just crazy. There is something wrong with doping them up to control them. It is almost Orwellian. I would probably have been called add when I was in school. I was just bored with the material and carried my strong type A personality, even back then.

[92f-fan]

I enjoy playing first person shooters - and I have for years
Since I'm not mentally unstable or on meds - I haven't shot anyone "call of duty" style..

Blaming the games is no different than blaming the guns.
It takes a psychotic to mass murder people.
whether they use an airplane, a gun, a uhaul full of fertilizer, a knife, natural gas leak, fire or what ever else fits in the twisted mind...

Its the PERSON thats the issue - whether we are banning guns or first person shooters BOTH actions contribute to MORE of the Nanny State. Less personal responsibility

When you were growing up in your formative years, you were not playing video games that simulated killing people and you were not watching movies and TV that glorified rape, murder and other forms of violence.

The issue I brought up has to do with training children to commit mass murder utilizing video games. If the technique were not effective, the military would not be using them to simulate combat situations for training troops. At least when the military utilizes video games to train, they have guidance. Americans are sitting their 8 year olds in front of violent video games and walking away... Or worse... Locking the door as they leave for work.

So its the games ? Not the failure of the parents to parent ?
Again the nanny state. We dont want parents to actually have to look at or pay attention to what their kids are doing. That's what school, day care, soccer camp, iphones, dvds, TV and karate class are for.

[03Lightningrocks]

No... It is not the games!! How many times do I have to say it?? It is the irresponsible parents that allow their children to be brainwashed by games that have ratings designed to warn them that they are not for children! If a parent allows their children access to alcohol, their are penalties. Same with porn. Why not with violent mass murder training utilities?

Here is the proper analogy. It is like some of you folks were saying it would be Ok for a parent to buy an AR15, load it up and leave it for the child to play with while they run off to work.

[03Lightningrocks]

Well then... I am in the camp that strongly believes the video game industry along with the "rappers" have brought us to this point. I have watched 8 year olds playing video games that look like real life and they are slaughtering other human beings for fun and entertainment. That silly rating system means nothing. Many of these parents are paying no attention to the content. As long as "little Johnny" is kept entertained while mom works all day, everything is good. Gangsta Rap singers glorify violence and abuse with every word out of their mouths. Again... parents are allowing this exposure but realistically, there is no penalty for a parent doing this and many parents have no clue of the trash they are allowing children to absorb.

This garbage does desensitize our young people.

My serious suggestions on these two fronts. Institute some criminal penalties for adults that give people under the age of 18 access to this filth... just like we do for adults that give porn to people under the age of 18.

So we can get away from all these posts about outlawing video games, I will bring the post that started the whole video debate to the top. Take note! It was never suggested by me that we outlaw video games. Furthermore, I don't recall any other post suggested we outlaw video games. Fear not gamers. I am not suggesting we take away your games. I am only suggesting the ratings system that the industry itself puts on the games, be given some teeth for enforcement. Even the gaming industry knows this stuff is not appropriate for children. They just don't want rules to enforce it because they know the majority of their sales are to parents that buy these games for their children.


I suppose I have tried hard enough to keep my points clear. If folks want to go off in left field about it from here on... Have fun. I am done trying to make it easy to understand.


I do believe some of the other suggestions on this thread have merit. Drugging up these kids has become an issue. Latch key children are a problem. No parent involvement is a problem. TV shows that glamorize teen pregnancy and promiscuity are part of it. Social issues are contributing to this in a big way. It takes just the right combination of ingredients to make a cake. I believe the same holds true for young people that walk into a school and gun down children. It took a combination of factors to create that monster. The answer is not in any one issue. That is why there will be nothing that stops this from happening again.

[Wes]

In the end, it comes down to parenting, and THAT is something that I think many of us will agree is sorely lacking in our nation today...and I am the first to admit that I have no clue what the fix for that is, or if it can be fixed.

Totally.