The past few days have seen two frightening series of rampage killings, in Alabama and in Southern Germany: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,612863,00.html Living in Germany, and having a 17-year-old daughter going to school here, I've been hearing and reading quite a bit about our local horror in the past few days. It seems to have been a typical case of a boy/ young man with major mental/self-image problems irrevocably losing it.
The talking heads are waffling about the availability of weapons (Tim K. used a Beretta his father kept in his bedroom), graphic computer games (Counterstrike) and all the other usual stuff. Despite my oft- posted abhorrence for privately-held guns, I don't really think that further gun control is the answer (not to this particular problem - rampage killings take place in societies with tight and with lax gun- control - the killers seem to be able to get the guns anyway). I also don't believe that 99.99% of kids are significantly brutalised by graphic games - otherwise no street in the world would be safe to walk, given the fact that almost all 18-year old males in the developed world have,or have had significant exposure to such games. I don't know if there is any real answer to such events. Growing up has always has its problems and it certainly isn't easy for kids today, in our high-octane, high-pressure, consuming/consumptive performance- and success-driven society. One interesting comment I've heard claimed that girls tend to internalise aggression (with results such as the repeated cutting of arms) while guys are more likely to channel that argression outwards. That said, it was the amok killings of Brenda Ann Spencer in 1979, which inspired Bob Geldof to write, "I Don't Like Mondays", which maybe gives the best explanation for why such things happening - the best because it just expresses rather than explains the unexplainable: "The silicon chip inside her head gets switched to overload ... " Francis --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups ""Minds Eye"" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/Minds-Eye?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
