Just to get the facts straight, Vam, it has since emerged that the report that Tim K. had stated his intention to "whip up a storm" in a chat room (Krautchan, a German clone of 4Chan) was incorrect. The police had received reports of the entry in the chat room forum, which later turned out to be false. But Rech, the interior minister, in a move sadly typical for a politician, had already taken the photo- oppportunity to go public with the news.
Far from being on Ritalin (a popular, if often questionable treatment for kids who are hyper and diagnosed as suffering from Attention- Deficit-Syndrome), as Don suggests, Tim K. is universally described as being quiet and somewhat withdrawn. Not, by any means, an over- achiever, but also not a kid who fully fits into the omega-type, weird, nerd-loser category in teenage group classification. He had recently begun therapeutic treatment for depression but had discontinued it. Part of the psychosis which drove K. to his killing spree may have had something to do with gender issues, Slip. The vast majority of his victims in the school were female, according to the reports, and most were killed with aimed, intentional head shots (this kid was a trained shooter). This, however, would seem to argue, in my view, for traditional gender differentiation - speculatively, a generalised aggression against females because particular girls had rejected his advances. If he had been the subject of peer-group bullying/mobbing, one would have expected more alpha-jock types amongst the victims. While it might be interesting to discuss gender-related issues here, Slip, my experience is that no group is more conservative and traditional with regard to gender-differentiation than teenagers. Francis On 13 Mrz., 04:54, Vamadevananda <[email protected]> wrote: > There is something material to this discussion : The ' boy ' had > indicated his mind, in his own words, day before committing the > mayhem. Let's hear. > > "I have weapons here and tomorrow morning I will go to my old school > and really whip up a storm," Tim Kretschmer, 17, said in a chat room, > according to the interior minister of the state where Wednesday's > massacre took place. > > "I have had enough of this crummy life... Always the same. People are > laughing at me, no-one recognises my potential... You will hear about > me tomorrow. Make note of the name of the place: Winnenden," the > posting said. > > "He should have just killed himself," pensioner Hildegard Kronbach > said as she stood on the church steps. > > His father is a successful businessman who employs 150 people at a > packaging firm, according to police, but his son found it difficult to > fit in at school and had few friends. > > "He was simply not accepted by anyone and just sat all day in front of > his computer," Mario, a schoolmate, told German television station > N24. > > Reports also said he was keen on computer shooting games -- especially > the violent "Counter-Strike" -- and had become a real-life crack shot > at the shooting range where his father was a member. > > After leaving school last year, Kretschmer had enrolled on a course to > train as a salesman. He regularly worked out at the gym, belonged to a > sports club and was a keen table tennis player. > > His father owned more than a dozen guns, all locked away except the > nine millimetre Beretta pistol that caused the carnage. Police also > found 4,600 rounds of ammunition at the house. > > Rech said Kretschmer had apparently cracked an eight-digit code to a > locked cabinet containing guns and ammunition. > > The killer had "destroyed the soul of an entire school and ripped into > the heart of a town," Rech added. > > The tragedy brought back haunting memories of a similar bloodbath in > Erfurt in eastern Germany in 2002 that left 17 dead, including the > gunman, and rekindled a gun-control debate. > > Gun laws were tightened after Erfurt and there have already been calls > for even stricter laws and also a ban on violent computer games. > > The above were excerpts from The Guardian. The fact that the boy was > filled with the sense of " unrecognised potential," despite having all > ( compared to a teen in an average household in India ) materially, is > what is most germane to the case. > > On Mar 13, 3:42 am, frantheman <[email protected]> wrote: > > > 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 -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
