The Violent Teenager

      "Children are so exposed to violence, and violence is so glorified and accepted in the media that they are desensitized to it. It's impossible to watch television for very long now without seeing murders, gunshots, assaults, and rape. Nothing is shocking to the youth of our culture anymore. Children are also desensitized and inspired by the violence that is around them in real life, especially the violence that is committed against them. When children are bullied and abused by their peers or parents, any violence that they express is going to be equal or greater than what they are going through.

      "Our nation does not have the same level of morality that it had in times past. We don't believe in a general sense of right and wrong anymore, and we don't hold ourselves accountable for our actions like we use to. The mind-set in our society now is to care only for yourself and your own gratification. When you don't value the life and rights of others, you don't view them as human, making it a lot easier to commit a violent act against them."

     This quote is from Luke Woodham, a depressed, angst-ridden teenager who, in October 1997 in the small town of Pearl, Mississippi, beat his mother to death with a baseball bat, shot two classmates to death, and injured seven others. Woodham's story can be found in  Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer (2009) by Phil Chalmers.