If You Don't Go to the Dance with Me, I'll Shoot You in the Face

Seriously, this is what it has come to.  I'm afraid for my kids sometimes that, (due to several incidences in the last 15 years), what if they look at a kid sideways, reject an invite to a dance, or laughs on 1st impulse when somebody trips, that that kid is going to go postal or stalk and beat a kid to death.  Unfortunately, it's our new reality.

All right, since no one else is going to say it, I'll say it...

How the hell do you not know that your kid is on the verge of going mental and planning to shoot up his school?  I say "his" because a girl has yet to go into a school with guns blazing, but ya' know, give it time I'm sure.  So for the sake of saving pronouns, I'll just refer to the child as a boy.  Ladies, don't feel left out...

I understand there are one or two kids that somebody did see the signs, they were taken to psychologists, undergoing treatment, yada, yada, and it still happened.  I guess there is the rare case where a kid is just psychotic and when they snap, they snap.  But I'm thinking, still, wouldn't he be under closer wraps, maybe taken out of the public school and put in a safer environment?

Ok, psycho kids not withstanding... who the hell doesn't see this stuff coming?  This kid in Ohio a couple of days ago, everyone said,  "oh he was just a quiet average kid".  The kid freakin' posted on Facebook he was gonna' shoot sh*t up!  How much more warning do you need?  Ok sure, kids talk a lot of crap.  They exaggerate.  But even if my kid were kidding about stuff like that, I'd be concerned and have a talk.

With several of these kids (what a shame I can use the word several in this sentence) involved in these school shootings, their background is... kinda' sad.  To me, anyway.  They often live with Grandparents, or Aunts or Uncles or whoever.  Many times not the parents.  These kids are disposable kids to begin with.  And I take it said guardian isn't paying that much attention.  Those are really sad cases.  What do you do?  If Mom and Dad aren't deceased, then they should be taking care of their own damn kids!  Yea, I know, my kid's Father abandoned them a couple years ago, to me it's a crime worse than any except murder.  There oughta' be a law.  People need to stop walking away from kids, or don't have them to begin with!  Step the hell up!

Ok, then you have the kids that did live with the parents like the Kleebold and Harris boys responsible for Columbine.  Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!  These two had arsenals in their homes and bomb factories in their garages and no one noticed?  What kind of irresponsible parent are you?!  They should be held responsible. I'm sorry, it's not that hard to keep tabs on your kids.  I'm just flabbergasted on that one.

I'm not a perfect parent.  But none of my kids has even ever had detention in their lives and I have 3 teenagers, one's about to graduate!  .  (knock wood, let's keep the streak going!)  But for the love of all that's holy, pay attention to your own God damn kid!  Listen to them, talk to them, observe their moods, look at their Facebook and Twitter pages.  You don't even have to be invasive by looking into their phone, just freakin' look at them!  I just... kids are my passion.  They shouldn't be troubled, they should feel loved.  Let's start loving them, paying attention to them, teaching them how to cope in the real world.  When things don't go your way, marching into a place and shooting it up is not the answer.  Pay attention parents, that's an order.