Texas Massacre: Why do young people in America want to kill?

Salvador Ramos, the perpetrator of the elementary school massacre in Texas, is 18 years old. Just a few days ago, another 18-year-old boy killed 13 African Americans at a supermarket in Buffalo.

The culprit of the school massacre in Parkland was 18, one in Sandy Hook was 20, one in Virginia Tech, 23, and here’s the trend: mass murderers in america are still very young (except for the perpetrator of the Las Vegas massacre) and almost all kindergarten, elementary and high school murders in this country were committed by teenagers.

In the United States, teens can’t legally drink beer until they’re 21 years old, nor can they go to a bar or dance at a disco. is prohibited. But yes they can go to war or buy any weapon without a problemeven an assault rifle, in just an hour in a supermarket.

Not only can they have their own, but they can also access their parents ’closet or any family member who may have an arsenal there. The United States, it is known, is the most armed society in the world, with more than one weapon per inhabitant.

According to Statista, who conducted a survey between 1976 and 2020, the authors of 175 elementary and secondary school massacres in the U.S. were 17 years old, in another 163 they were 16, another 138 were 15 and at 106 they were 18 years old. .

Why?

Beyond the well -known debate about lawmakers in this country’s resistance to limiting the carrying and buying of weapons, another question has arisen: Why are the perpetrators of massacres in the United States so young? Is there too much demand or frustration? Why are they radicalized to become monsters? Are social networks influential?

Consulted Marc Zimmerman, co-director of the Institute for the Prevention of Injuries by Firearms of the University of Michigan, was taught at Clarion that “some explanation may be that the human brain is not yet fully formed until the age of 25, so impulse control, problem solving, and coping skills may be limited before that age. On the other hand, most mass shooters have some problem or are in a crisis and 40% have some early trauma or exposure to violence.

Patricia Fernandez-Kelly, professor of sociology at Princeton University, points out that most violent crimes are committed by “young people in economically vulnerable sectors who feel alienated, with little economic hope, and disrespect. In the pursuit of fame, they use violence as a form of protest and to attract the attention of the rest of the world. ”

Another fact is that almost all authors are male. The sociologist introduced the concept of “male alienation”.

It teaches that “the processes of deindustrialization associated with globalization, the loss of stable jobs, the movements demanding the rights of racial minorities, homosexuals, women, etc.. they also contributed greatly to the state of alienation of men. In such conditions suicides and drug use increased. Violence among young men leading to massacres like in Texas seems to be thriving under frustration and lack of vision for the future.

Adam Lankford, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Alabama, has published a study on homicides and, like others, believes that easy access to weapons is essential. But, he added, there is an additional side to America: “The strong sense of exceptionalism and individualistic culture, something that is taught to young Americans from an early age.”

Lankford explained that “there is a notion that, in general, the United States is unique in different ways in terms of our history: the degree to which we fought for freedom, as the first and most successful nation. of our kind, ”he said. Lankford. If you teach your kids, ‘You can achieve anything you want if you put your mind to it,’ you can set them to fail. “

who are the attackers

The profile of the attackers is usually someone destined, without many friends, that is he has little social life, but he is connected to the Internet.

Fernández-Kelly points out that “social isolation and internal loneliness in conjunction with messages sent by new technologies (Facebook, Twitch, etc.) also play a role, as the Buffalo supermarket case shows.”

It added that “Payton Gendron, who killed ten people at the Tops Store, internalized racist ideologies through the Internet in times of boredom caused by the pandemic. In other words, the intense messages it gives. young men with no future way to gain fame at the expense of groups considered inferior or despicable.

Garen Wintemute, a professor of violence prevention at the University of California, Davis said Clarion yan “social networks play a role in inciting widespread violence and violence in general, but at the same time providing a way for prevention, as most mass shooters inform their intentions in advance. The phrase we use here is: “If you see anything, say so.”

Easy access to weapons

Beyond these observations, all experts point to a major cause the ease with which it is possible to obtain guns.

“Hate, isolation, grievance and access to guns are very important reasons” to carry out their killings.

“Isolated youth exist all over the planet, and widespread violence is not unique to the United States. The United States has a very high level of access to guns, which exacerbates the problem here,” Wintemute said. .

Fernández-Kelly points out: “In the United States we have 20 percent more weapons than the population, a higher proportion than in Yemen, a country second in terms of weapons and where civil war is raging! There are more weapons here than in a country at war! ” said Fernández-Kelly.

At the same time, guns will be the leading cause of death for American children and adolescents by 2020, according to researchers who reviewed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

This is a major change in risks for young people in the United States. For more than 60 years, car accidents have been the leading cause of death among children and adolescents.

Car accidents are now second, while drug overdose is third. The number of deaths from guns grew during the pandemic, when sales of rifles and pistols increased.

Can the education system do anything to identify these children and prevent murders?

Zimmerman said: “Schools should set clear expectations for behavior, helping all members of a school community (students, teachers, staff) identify signs when a person begins to show signs of anxiety (e.g., loss of interest in activities)., talking about killing or hurting themselves or others, giving things important to them, loneliness self) and having multidisciplinary teams that will provide mental health first aid and early referral to students for mental health treatment and support. ”

But, he added, “although schools play a special role because of this students spend a lot of time together, school violence is also associated with family and community violence, so the system education cannot be fully responsible for its realization. our schools and communities are safe. ”

Washington, correspondent

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