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Should the parents of child/teen mass murderers be partially blamed for the actions of their children?
Ten years after the horrific Columbine High School shooting, the mother of perpetrator Dylan Klebold is finally talking about her son's actions. She insists that she never had reason to believe that her son was depressed, suicidal, and capable of violence, let alone that he had built a weapons and bomb arsenal with his school friend Eric Harris. My question now is, is it really possible to completely misjudge your child's personality and character and not realize what they may be capable of. Can a parent really miss out on their children's activities and feelings to this extent without being blamed for what their children do? What do you think?
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October 14, 2009 06:36 PM
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I've read quite a bit about forensic psychology.
From what I have learned, there are subtle hints and clues that may or may not be obvious to the parent.
I guess in a perfect world, we'd all know Dr. Robert D. Hare's psychopathy checklist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy
I don't think your average parent will look at their children and scrutinize what they're currently doing and compare it with a list of what makes someone a sociopath or psychopath.
Most people don't even know what cues to look for in the first place. Most parents have a biased vision of their children anyway.
I don't think Jeffery Dahmer, who started mutilating and killing animals when he was just a boy, came running home to mommy and daddy and showing them what he was up to.
There are behaviors out there that are not black and white. If it were black and white, then why don't we also prosecute the parents who abused and created the criminals that are doing time?
The only crime that I truly believe is contagious and handed down from one generation to the next is pedophilia. That is the only crime that always has a source. For every disgusting pedophile you run across, you also see a child that was also horribly abused.
I was living in Denver during the whole Columbine mess, and know that those parents will be emotionally punishing themselves for the rest of their lives. I don't think we need to punish them any more through a court of law.
From what I have learned, there are subtle hints and clues that may or may not be obvious to the parent.
I guess in a perfect world, we'd all know Dr. Robert D. Hare's psychopathy checklist.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychopathy
I don't think your average parent will look at their children and scrutinize what they're currently doing and compare it with a list of what makes someone a sociopath or psychopath.
Most people don't even know what cues to look for in the first place. Most parents have a biased vision of their children anyway.
I don't think Jeffery Dahmer, who started mutilating and killing animals when he was just a boy, came running home to mommy and daddy and showing them what he was up to.
There are behaviors out there that are not black and white. If it were black and white, then why don't we also prosecute the parents who abused and created the criminals that are doing time?
The only crime that I truly believe is contagious and handed down from one generation to the next is pedophilia. That is the only crime that always has a source. For every disgusting pedophile you run across, you also see a child that was also horribly abused.
I was living in Denver during the whole Columbine mess, and know that those parents will be emotionally punishing themselves for the rest of their lives. I don't think we need to punish them any more through a court of law.
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October 14, 2009 05:24 PM
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Q: Should the parents of child/teen mass murderers be partially blamed for the actions of their children?
A: How would you blame them? For being there, or for *not* being there?
Q: Ten years after the horrific Columbine High School shooting, the mother of perpetrator Dylan Klebold is finally talking about her son's actions. She insists that she never had reason to believe that her son was depressed, suicidal, and capable of violence, let alone that he had built a weapons and bomb arsenal with his school friend Eric Harris. My question now is, is it really possible to completely misjudge your child's personality and character and not realize what they may be capable of. Can a parent really miss out on their children's activities and feelings to this extent without being blamed for what their children do? What do you think?
A: Some kids are just born psychotic... bad genes from a great grandparent, or something like that... and sometimes parents are just too busy making enough money to pay the rent and buy food to focus as much attention to their kids as maybe they should, which means, if you're going to start extending blame beyond the person who did it to things like his parents, then they are just as justified extending the blame to their society and how it's been so badly mismanaged by its leadership that the economy has ground down to the point where both parents are working so long and hard that they don't have time to actually raise their kids, much less notice if those kids are starting to act out of character.
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A: How would you blame them? For being there, or for *not* being there?
Q: Ten years after the horrific Columbine High School shooting, the mother of perpetrator Dylan Klebold is finally talking about her son's actions. She insists that she never had reason to believe that her son was depressed, suicidal, and capable of violence, let alone that he had built a weapons and bomb arsenal with his school friend Eric Harris. My question now is, is it really possible to completely misjudge your child's personality and character and not realize what they may be capable of. Can a parent really miss out on their children's activities and feelings to this extent without being blamed for what their children do? What do you think?
A: Some kids are just born psychotic... bad genes from a great grandparent, or something like that... and sometimes parents are just too busy making enough money to pay the rent and buy food to focus as much attention to their kids as maybe they should, which means, if you're going to start extending blame beyond the person who did it to things like his parents, then they are just as justified extending the blame to their society and how it's been so badly mismanaged by its leadership that the economy has ground down to the point where both parents are working so long and hard that they don't have time to actually raise their kids, much less notice if those kids are starting to act out of character.
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October 14, 2009 07:12 PM
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Most part yeah,
Because most parents will back there kids 90% to a 100% no matter what!
And think no no my kid would never do that,
That's not my kid... I thought him/her better then that,
And yet they are not even as close to they kid, as they should be.
(sorry I'm jumping all over the place with this)
But if put it together you'll get it.)
And they see all the signs and pass no jugement on it, thinking oh that's noting.
Because, I know my kid...
But yet, they don't ,
I'll say parents only know 50% about there kids...
And the other 50% is unknown to them,
And yet they still think they know.
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Because most parents will back there kids 90% to a 100% no matter what!
And think no no my kid would never do that,
That's not my kid... I thought him/her better then that,
And yet they are not even as close to they kid, as they should be.
(sorry I'm jumping all over the place with this)
But if put it together you'll get it.)
And they see all the signs and pass no jugement on it, thinking oh that's noting.
Because, I know my kid...
But yet, they don't ,
I'll say parents only know 50% about there kids...
And the other 50% is unknown to them,
And yet they still think they know.
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