Seems more and more kids don't make any difference between the real and the virtual world. Kids play games and they learn from it like has always been .. but today's games are different. Most of them are violent in a way or another .. war games .. superheroes .. etc, where whacking someone is essential and pulling a trigger is the only solution to solve the problem.
Killing is fun in a virtual world, the higher your score the coolest you are .. they call it a good entertainment ..
These horrible school shootings are just a top of the iceberg .. the problem is more deep and complex, imho. Violence has become a norm in our modern world and there is no good solution on how to change society's values ..
However, if we don't care about our children at home, can't find enough time for them, to listen to what they have to say .. setting ourselves - jobs .. careers .. egos, etc always first, then no wonder that some of the kids some day might find a solution for their real problems from the virtuality, where resolving them is so easy .. just pull the trigger ..

There was violence exposure when I was growing up.
Parents took the time to teach.
They restricted the exposure because they took the time to look at what their children were being exposed to.
They taught their children different ways to solve their problems without violence.
Parents were in charge, not the children.

Definitely giving them time
Must say that it's not a single parent thing either. Many single parents have done a better job than those with both parents

Well it’s horrific to me each and every time, no matter how often it happens.

It’s hard for me to weigh in on these things, because I read all the arguments and they ALL seem pretty legitimate to me. Yet, noone knows what to do about it without making life inconvenient for one half or the other. We need to find a way to get over that.

If there’s ONE thing we should be able to find a way to come together over, you’d think American gunmen shooting up American children would be pretty high on the list!

IMO, no one on ANY mind altering drug, or in genuine NEED of a mind altering drug/script should have any second hand access to any firearm. There are rules and proceedires and precautions for...every...stinking... thing in existence it seems, but this!

Greeneyes, we DO overdrug our kids, because as Msharmony said, we’re NOT (as a whole) teaching our kids to cope. We DON’T (as a whole) teach them to behave either, ‘cause there’s a drug for that. We DON’T even expect our kids to respect one another, let alone their elders or authority figures anymore, but excuse bad behavior with the excuse of whatever condition they’ve been labeled with. Because there’s a condition for everything now. There are no bad kids, just conditions.

Don’t even get me started on social media for children. I’m bursting with opinions on this, but will only say one thing...Isn’t it hard enough on a kid to learn their way into maturity, without the weight of the world watching their every misstep?

I’ve shared my opinion, which I never ever do on this or like sites. I am by no means an expert in any aspect of firearms, national security, child psychology or psychiatric medicine. My opinions are based solely on what I witness around me, and that’s how it makes me feel.

You’re right about parents (as a whole) Tom. How do you make them see the problem, when a bonified Doctor is telling them the problem is a medical condition?
It would be ideal to have a full time parent. I have never heard a kid grow up to blame their woes on a parent who was always there to support and guide them. This is a different world than the one we were raised in. (I’m making an age assumption based on your position on credit alone)
The only thing I’ll say about the credit issue is that, I personally feel, the entitlement mentality is as much to blame for requiring two working parents to keep a houshold solvent as insufficient working wages are. It makes me sad to hear about where working wages NEED to be from people who don’t have a clue what NEED is. They think it’s a big screen in every room, a cell in every hand and 2,347 channels they’ll never watch on a salary that is not remotely in sync with their lifestyle.
IMO, they don’t even realize they’re putting comfort and convince ahead of their own children. And in turn raising them to believe that’s what’s right. That these are the things they’re entitled to too, and credit is the answer. How do you fix that?
I did it again! I’ll just be slinking back to the game room now.

well shy for that all you gotta do is convince them they can make money that way. you up to that crusade? lol