entre wrote:

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Moldy wrote:

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I do not feel sorry for him. I know I should, but give me a break; I was picked on by plenty of rich kids with awesome clothes and fancy cars..Did I care? Maybe a little.....but, I got over it.

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But you did not have a mental illness.  That's all I'm saying.  Even with a life of puppies and rainbows, he still might have gone over the edge. 

I'm not saying you should feel sorry for him.  How we feel is irrelevant.  But if we keep focusing on his bitterness about being bullied, etc., we lose track of the issue of how genuine, bona fide mentally ill people can be directed to the help they need.  Not only for them but for the safety of us all. 

Bullying and rich kids is what he THINKS made him do what he did.  But the mentally ill cannot be depended on to know why they do what they do, so we can't take their reasons at face value.  Over and above it all, there was something wrong with his brain. 

Sure, parents can teach coping skills, but the best thing these parents could have done was be awake to the signs that no matter what they did, without outside intervention, this kid was headed for disaster.

Edit - not to say I'm ignoring or don't respect your opinion about the parents and the rich kid issues and everything.  Just expressing my feelings on this whole mental illness thing, which is such a disturbing fact of life.

-- Edited by entre at 18:52, 2007-04-19

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you are right...the whole mental health thing is a different issue. Again, that is the parents responsibility and not the schools. He was, sadly, just one of many who get ruffled through the mental health scene and get a stamp of "He's ok..not a danger...send him away." Then this.  He was sane enough to trick the doctors.....heck, he was sane enough to get into Virginia Tech.

Speaking of parents...where are they? His other family members wont be interviewed, which I can understand, I guess. I am sure I would want some privacy too....but I would also want to make sure fingers were not being pointed at me.......oh well.

Entre....I did not think you were no respecting my opinion......but thanks for telling me that you werent.

BTW, the copycatting has already started...2 school here in Austin were closed and searched for bombs. One was a school for the Deaf......now what kind of sicko jokes about that with handicapped kids. The other was a Catholic University...that happened twice there since the incident in Va. Never understand that......let's pray that these are stay sick jokes and that some moron sicko isnt planning something for tomorrow......March 20th.
We all know what that day is.....