ASK DR. BAUGHAN                                                         May 29, 1998

CHILDREN WHO KILL

The nation has been shocked by the recent incidents of children taking guns to school and randomly murdering other students.  After the Arkansas incidents, we asked, “How can such a thing happen?”  After the Oregon carnage, we asked, “Could such a thing happen here?”  If we are honest and do not retreat into denial from the horror of the idea, we would have to answer, “Why not?”  Then the challenge that follows is, “What would we have to do to prevent this?”  Epidemic means something happens more frequently than previously, so lethal violence is epidemic in our youth and is the first or second leading cause of death in young people, depending on which part of the country you are living in.  The American Medical Association has described violence as a public health problem.  This by no means implies that doctors have the solution; this will require the attention, study and effort of parents, teachers, ministers, law enforcement, politicians, sociologists, psychologists, and so on.  Anyone who has something to contribute needs to.  I cannot presume to say how such atrocities can be prevented, but let me identify three facets of the problems that need to be addressed to reduce the chances of recurrences.

REMOVE THE STIGMA OF SEEKING MENTAL HEALTH CARE -  Adolescence is a time of rapid emotional and behavioral change.  Who can say what is “normal?”  Should everyone who listens to violent rock and roll groups see a mental health therapist?  We do not know what the threshold or specific symptoms are for seeking professional help to prevent lethal violence.  But apparently they need to be lower.  This means we would need to evaluate lots of kids and expect to find only a few that would receive “treatment.”  If treatment were effective, there would be no violence, so we would never be sure treatment was necessary in any individual case.  There may be other positive changes, but the absence of murder is our goal.  Consider this:  over 90% of children seen in doctor’s offices for abdominal pain are found to have no “physical” cause and are considered to be of emotional origin.  Over 95% of children with cough have viral illnesses that get better without antibiotics or other medicine. Parents are not reluctant to take kids to doctors for cough or abdominal pain. Few of them require professional treatment.  There is reluctance to take kids to doctors or mental health providers for emotional issues.  But the results are more often lethal.

TEACH MODULATION OF EMOTIONS - It is no surprise that these murders have occurred in middle schools or high schools.  Children may be rageful and have poor impulse control, then the testosterone surges of puberty exacerbate the situation greatly.  Every day children see how to express rage in violent ways through television, video games, movies, and music.  Everyday we stimulate their nervous systems and adrenal glands with sudden, powerful impulses.  When do we teach them, or show them, how they can control their rage, modulate it, and even transform it?  Our bodies have built-in mechanisms for generating calmer states.  Few of us practice them regularly.  They are not learned by suppression or repression, by saying “Stop that!” or “Don’t feel that way!”  Why isn’t yoga, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, or some other non-religious method of emotional modulation a standard part of education and child-rearing?

LIMIT TEEN ACCESS TO GUNS - An angry, impulsive boy with access to firearms is a disaster waiting to happen.  Adults control the supply of guns.  Parents who have guns and children in the same house should take the same precautions they would if they stored dynamite in the house.  Guns are just as explosive.  Sure, kids can obtain guns outside the house.  Adults manufacture, import and make the initial sale of guns.  They have ultimate control of the supply.  They make the profit on the predictable percent of the market that ends up in the hands of children.  Responsible adults in society have to acknowledge that they have let the distribution of a lethal substance get out of control.  We need to assert that control.  Our children need us to.  Their lives depend on it.