Can troubled youths be spotted before they turn deadly?

[Jazzy]

NEW YORK - If there's one area of possible agreement in the Senate in the wake of last year's shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn., it's the need for improvements in the treatment of the mentally ill, with a focus on identifying troubled youths before they take a deadly turn.

That Adam Lanza had serious issues before he massacred 26 adults and children was obvious to many, including, apparently, his own mother.

The psychiatrist of accused Aurora movie theater shooter James Holmes was so concerned about his potential for violence, she reported him to campus police.

Yet neither Lanza nor Holmes would have been flagged in a background check. Not Lanza because it was his mother who bought the weapons, and not Holmes because he'd never been institutionalized for mental illness.

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Topic question same as thread title: Can troubled youths be spotted before they turn deadly?

Your opinion?

 

[Evil Eye]

Some, undoubtedly. Probably not all of them, but preventing just a few of these events would be very good already.

 

[Jazzy]

I think it's difficult to tell a troubled youth as they go through so many phases in their life. The ones that could spot them the best, IMO, would be the parents. There are parents, however, we are in denial and think my son or daughter would never do something bad. They keep thinking that because they're in denial. We need more affordable mental health care and more responsible parents.