15 yr old kills Family in MD

[jrfoxx]

Nice Baltimore Sun article. If only the father didnt own a gun, the 15 year old would have had NO WAY of killing his family. I'm 100% sure they didnt own a baseball bat, axe, knives, golf clubs, etc, all of which would have allowed him to do the exact same thing....except it would have been quieter, so no one in the house or neiborhood would have ever heard a sound, most likely.If only we banned all guns, no one could ever kill thier whole family (like a relative of mine in the early 1800's who DIDNT kill all 8 members of his family in thier sleep with and axe.....since you can only do it with guns, it must have never happene, and the newspaper article from the time is a total lie....)

That said, a very sad and tragic event.4 dead, a 15 year old who will now likely be scarred for life knowing what he did, and he'll likely get to relive that event everyday he spends in prison, which will also likely be the rest of his life.

 

[mbt2001]

As the father of a young man with a very serious mental illness, these kinds of comments disturb me deeply. My son did not choose to have this brain disease, nor was it caused by "bad parenting" - we raised both our children with love and attention. My wife and I worked out of our home when they were growing up and we were always there for them - as we are still.

Mental illnesses are the result of abnormalities in brain chemistry and are every bit as "real" as cancer - and sometimes even more devastating. Mental illnesses are NOT CAUSED by prescription drugs. I can tell you, however, that my son would be absolutely unable to function without his prescription meds. In the past, he would have been institutionalized for life - with no hope of parole. This is a talented, intelligent, big-hearted young man who hasn't a violent bone in his body, and has never hurt anyone or committed any crimes.

Perhaps it is comforting for some of you to believe that it is the pharmaceutical industry's fault - that it couldn't happen in your family - but you are wrong! Thousands of families are afflicted by these tragic illnesses. In many cases, counseling and prescriptions are a God-send that may return their loved ones to near normal functioning. Good people that in the past would have been locked away - out of your sight - out your thoughts - and out of their minds.

Good post Rainbow, but I think we can all agree that we were not referring to "your" kids or to folks who honestly NEED the drugs to function. I was prescribed Ritalin, my brother was, my college roomie has been prescribed paxil, one of buddies in college had been prescribed aderol. These had nothing to do with us and we didn't need them. This was the demands of a society that treats boys in school as defective girls.

You know it is happening and so do I.

Further to that, when SOME kids take these drugs it can lead to problems, now this might be for several reasons or a combination of factors, but those are not necessarily being disclosed and more and more parents are plowing their NORMAL kids with more and more drugs...

Honestly, have you read articles on Child Soldiers in Africa and other places? Do you know why they use them / like them? Because at 15 it isn't that hard to kill someone. Cause and Effect, Right and Wrong are not entirely worked out in the brain yet. Now take any 15 year old, plow him full of prozac or whatever because he broke up with his girlfriend and ritalin so he can get in the "right" college and HE could start "losing it". Simply because the normal motivators of fear, pleasure, pain have been deadened, they are not as acute. That CAN AND DOES lead to issues. Fear, et al are good things.

I am sorry if I offended you and those like you that are depending on these medications for a better tomorrow, but I will say that me and many like me where plowed with these drugs for no reason and to the benefit of one group. They are dangerous, they have been implicated in suicides, homicides and other criminal behavior and NO ONE has investigated whether we should continue plowing a percentage of our children with these medications, requiring little or no justification for doing so.

I will say one more thing, if he was "abusing" / "experimenting" with drugs and drink and was on these meds, that might be the thing that tips people. I don't know. But none of us will know unless we ask the questions and insist on the answers.

 

[rainbowbob]

From the Baltimore sun:

No juvenile criminal record, said the pretrial services official. No history of substance abuse or mental illness. No clues in the courtroom that might enable students at two Cockeysville schools to understand how an honor student on the verge of becoming an Eagle Scout could be behind bars...

Some of this thread has been devoted to discussing the uses, and perhaps abuses, of psychiatric meds. Apparently, according to the above news source, this wasn't an issue in the this particular case.

mbt2001 said:

I was prescribed Ritalin, my brother was, my college roomie has been prescribed paxil, one of buddies in college had been prescribed aderol. These had nothing to do with us and we didn't need them. This was the demands of a society that treats boys in school as defective girls. You know it is happening and so do I.

I don't know if this is happening...But I agree with you that we need to ask the questions and insist on answers.

 

[Phil DeGraves]

Good example of how Maryland's very strict gun control laws DON"T WORK!