Fifth-graders plot school murder with knife and handgun

[zinnia_rose]

Comments

[pepsquad]

no they cant be rehabbed. they are already sociopaths.

[tiddlywinks103]

Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnooooooo. Geez.

[keskt]

I don't think we can really make that determination about a couple of kids based on the information given?

[pepsquad]

I'm hazarding a guess, i hope i'm wrong i doubt i am.

[schexyschteve]

We need some "learn to deal with your feelings" classes in this country, because jfc

Oh, and also some basic gun safety classes, because HOW THE FUCK DOES A 10 YEAR OLD GET A GUN?!

[spyral_path]

He took it from his older brother's room and it originally belonged to his grandfather.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/30/us-usa-crime-washingtonstate-idUSBRE92T01B20130330

[luminescnece]

More questions.... How did his older brother get a semi automatic? Yes it belonged to their grandfather but really?!

[roseofjuly]

That's a problem. His older brother shouldn't have had the gun in his room either, especially not prominently displayed and easily accessible to an 11-year-old.

[tiddlywinks103]

Ok, the solution is not to just punish these kids, without pinpointing where, in society or in their households we failed them. Because we did. They are only 10 and 11. Unless they are diagnosed as sociopathic, they are simply products of what we allowed them to be exposed to, and think was ok.

These kids learned that people who annoying deserve to die, that a gun is the ultimate example of power, that they cannot trust the adults in their lives to stop bullying, they have to do it all on their own. We also taught them to have zero empathy for each other, and by doing the good ol' American "BLAME AND PUNISH!!", we do not teach these kids to do better, just that if you get caught, you will be locked away, and labeled a criminal for life.

This smacks of quickly scapegoating these kids for how we failed them, as a society, so we don't have to confront what we are. I do not like it.

[wingstar102]

+1 to every bit of your post.

[empressith]

that

[tabaqui]

This this this this.

[wingstar102]

Starting to sound more and more like I should homeschool my son in a cabin in the middle of the woods. It'd be safer there!

[thedorkygirl]

(All this is hazarding a guess AND my opinion)

These are little kids who don't really understand the consequences. A fifth grade who watches the news (with his parents?) & gets inspiration for this should be evaluated on all levels, including the sort of adult support he has at home. They need serious counseling and a lot of help.

[ceilidh]

Fifth graders are old enough to understand right from wrong, especially when it comes to killing people.

[ducttapeninja]

They understood the consequences well enough to try and hide their weapons, pay another kid eighty bucks to keep him quiet, and bring an extra ammo clip for the gun so they could kill anyone else who might try to stop them. They knew full well that the consequences for this would be severe and they thought that if they just killed anyone who got in their way that they could get away with it.

I do absolutely agree with you that these two boys need a lot of counseling and help to rehabilitate them, but I honestly think "They're just kids they didn't understand what they were doing" is utter garbage. True, they're only ten/eleven years old, but I can't think of very many people who could honestly say they didn't know there would be consequences to stabbing someone and shooting at least six others when they were that age. :/

[bestdaywelived]

Um, these are not babies. They are in 4th or 5th grade. They had the mental capacity to plan this attack, including paying off witnesses and bringing extra bullets.

Not to mention that I used to watch the news as a kid and never felt like raping or stabbing anyone.