FROM THE SIXTIES TO THE MILLENIUM

Victor Bloom MD

The recent school shootings will be focusing our attention on the problem for a long time to come. From February 1996 to May of 1999, just over three years, seven school shootings have taken place. The series started in Moses Lake, Washington, and then went to Pearl, Mississippi, West Padukah, Kentucky, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Springfield, Oregon, Littleton, Colorado and Conyers, Georgia. There were nine teenage perpetrators in all, 25 students and three teachers killed, and 72 wounded. Another massacre was recently prevented in Port Huron, Michigan.

The statistics could be made to look like we are in a war. In every such battle means we are losing a war, one which threatens to undermine our way of life--- that is, unless we correctly diagnose the problem and prescribe a means of prevention. There has been ample discussion of the influence of the media, including violent movies and video games, ugly lyrics in popular music, and the availability of weapons and materials of mass destruction. Information about guns and bombs are easily available on the Internet. Nowadays there is a relative lack of parental supervision and control. For disturbed adolescents there is a relative unavailability of adequately trained and experienced mental health personnel. Many think that abortion-on-demand is a corrosive influence on our attitudes toward life.

The sixties were a time of rampant anti-authoritarianism. For example, one of the Chicago Seven wrote a bestselling book on how to steal. They extolled the use of illegal drugs, took off their clothes, burned their bras and brought sex to the town square. The famous rock-opera, "Hair" prophesized a 'New Age,' the Age of Aquarius, in which peace and friendliness would reign in a world softened by marijuana and heightened by LSD. A Harvard professor led the claim to an expanded consciousness, supposedly to escape from the real world to a better world within.

The legacy of the sixties is still with us, alcohol, drugs, parental ineffectiveness, recreational and irresponsible sex, outrageous music, anti-authoritarianism and flaunting disobedience of the law. Police were called "pigs" and "fuzz," while no respect was given to their hard, dangerous and necessary work. Many teenagers became chronic lawbreakers, easily accessing marijuana and illegal alcohol. Their sheer numbers were impossible to control and they knew it. What was lost was a sense of doing the right thing, of not doing the wrong thing. And on top of that was a 'party' attitude with no remorse or guilt. Peer pressure was applied against the good students. They were ridiculed as eggheads and bookworms--- straight, square, goody-two-shoes. Religious sermons and parental lectures had little influence, while media 'entertainment' inflamed unruly behavior. School kids became like Mafia members, never 'ratting', tattling or reporting illegal or dangerous behavior of peers. The adults, parents, teachers and police, were the enemy. Many teenagers preferred to invent their own society, since supposedly ours was hopelessly contaminated by lies and corruption.

Most teenagers are peaceful, friendly and cooperative. They don't want to be associated with the killers, they don't want to be responsible for initiating painful investigations, they don't want to be at risk, they don't want to be bothered. Denial and avoidance are prevalent defense mechanisms.

Our high school students are consciously and unconsciously aware that standards of behavior have fallen, and have been raised in an atmosphere of permissiveness and indulgence. More and more the media encourage action--- talk shows have become fight shows, most sports have become more and more physically aggressive, verbal slurs and insults have become more prevalent. The whole idea of civility, of restraint and containment is undermined in a significant subculture.

Where once a depressed teenager quietly committed suicide, now those so inclined seek to go out with a bang, expressing murderous rage both internally and externally. The slogans of the business world say, "Just Do It!" and "Go 4 It!" Action is preferred to thought and reflection. Introspection is all too rare.

Political, professional, business, media, educational and religious leaders must help push the pendulum back the other way. Mental health professionals must educate the public to the dangers of not raising children with adequate guidance, control and supervision. It is a worthy goal to teach youngsters to value the accumulated wisdom of Western Civilization, rather than the latest mischief or trend of the peer group.

A few parents have begun to see the effects on a three year old of never hearing the word, "no", never being scolded, lectured or otherwise punished, of being overwhelmed with choices and gifts. Children must be made to consider the parents' feelings and wishes, must be made to control their impulses. The more children who receive effective parenting, which is also kind, sympathetic, affectionate and empathic, the fewer will be prone to be suicidal or murderously outraged.

The perpetrators of these recent school shootings had short fuses. They couldn't handle disappointment or rejection. They couldn't handle being teased. More 'tough-love' parenting might have prevented these horrendous acts of children killing children. Children need to be raised with coping mechanisms for everyday life; they need to be taught how to wait, and think, and think again, before acting. The simple but difficult process of delay and postponement should be taught from early childhood on. It is hard to understand why any parent has abandoned this age-old wisdom.

Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University. He welcomes comments and questions at vbloom@comcast.net.