Teen Vigilante Justice Disturbingly Popular

The popularity of attacks plotted and carried out by teens has been well documented in recent times.  In fact, it seems that hardly a month goes by without a new story circulating about a foiled plot on a public target. The target of choice by teenagers seems to be the schools they attend. Teens feel intense pressure to fit into the social hierarchy, especially at the high school level.  Individuals that find themselves as outcasts grow to resent their peers for not accepting them, and left unchecked this resentment turns to anger and eventually hatred.

The original story that brought this issue to the attention of Americans was the massacre at Columbine.  In more recent weeks we have seen new adaptations of this ‘classic’ attack method.  The most notable of these new methods was made popular by a You Tube video depicting a teen being lured into a house and then beaten unconscious by a group of ‘friends’. The dynamics of this attack are different but the motives appear to be the same.

In a world of increasing levels of violence at a younger age, how can we spot the problem before it ends up on CNN?

Elaine Sonnen of Green Creek, Idaho, may have figured out the answer to that question. Elaine’s son, Richard, who was adopted at the age of 4, was not fitting in at school and was the object of relentless ridicule.  Elaine was aware that her son had shown signs of uncontrollable anger from a young age, and was careful to keep a close watch on his activities as he grew.

It became clear to Elaine that her son was not acting normally, after a conversation with him about his desire to get back at the kids that were making his life hard.  Elaine, who was well aware of the high cost of complacency, took a proactive approach.  Elaine immediately demanded that Richard write the names of the children who were the intended targets of his vengeance on a piece of paper. She promptly turned that list over to Richards’s case worker. Richard was later admitted to an Idaho mental health institution.

Following a year and a half of intensive mental evaluation, Richard was released and is now attending Lewis and Clark College.

This story is an extreme example of a parent looking past the love that they feel for their child and viewing the facts with an objective eye.  It is by scrutinizing these situations with this objective eye, that we will see the early warning signs that are presenting themselves. Too often, parents allow their protective instincts toward their children to cloud their vision. These are the parents that are left wondering, “What did I do wrong,” after it is too late.

I am not saying that parents should not love their children.  I am simply saying that it is up to parents to engage in a self-imposed reality check from time to time.  It is a delicate balancing act to get this right, but what isn’t in our overly complicated world?

Check out this related story on CNN.com

This is an open discussion.  Feel free to share your ideas about how parents should strike this balance.

If you liked this story check out: Florida Teen Beaten By Classmates…WTF You Tube