Here in Michigan, we arrested the parents of the 14-year old who shot up his school. Now I just wonder if some other kid thinks, hey, I can shoot up my school AND get my parents arrested. Win, win.
What I haven't seen discussed is the fact that shooting up a school has become a copycat crime. Why? What is some disturbed kid watching when one of these events occurs that makes him think, 'yeah, I wanna do that too' ? Is it the images of the sobbing parents and friends? Is it the media portrayal of the shooter as 'evil' ?
I sometimes wonder what would happen if these shooters were portrayed as the mentally retarded losers they actually are and were actually somehow made fun of. I know you couldn't do it out of respect for the victims, but whatever we're doing now as a society is not working.
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