WASHINGTON, March 1, 2012 – No one knows for certain why 17-year old sophomore T.J. Lane opened fire at teen boys sitting at a cafeteria table in an Ohio high school on Monday.
Although students, family of the shooter and police are saying the killing of three and serious injury of two is not related to bullying, the incident has opened up an opportunity for parents, educators and young people to discuss the impact of bullying, and pressures placed on kids who may be silently suffering from mental illness.
CNN reported that Lane’s household was one filled with violence. Court records show that Thomas Lane Jr., the father of suspect T.J. Lane, has a record of arrests for abuse of women, including T.J.’s mother. Records show that between 1995 and 1997, Lane Jr. and T.J.’s mother, Sara A. Nolan, were each charged with domestic abuse.
Lane Jr. has also been charged with assaulting a police officer and served time in prison after trying to suffocate a woman by holding water flowing from a hose over her mouth and nose so she could not breathe. Filing for divorce from the teen's mother in 2002, Lane Jr. was charged with attempted murder, felonious assault and kidnapping.
Demetrius Hewlin, 17, Russell King Jr, 17 and Daniel Parmertor all died this week from injuries sustained when Lane, who attended nearby Lake Academy for troubled students, launched a violent raid on them and fellow students at Chardon High School.
The school superintendant Joseph Bergant praised the Assistant Football coach who went after Lane and stopped him from hurting more kids and ordered the entire school system closed on Tuesday so parents could comfort their grief stricken children.
Many people assumed bullying was the impetus for the attack because the boys were all athletic, attractive and popular. King and Parmertor attended another vocational school, Auburn Career Center, and were waiting for a short bus ride to school when shot.
T.J. Lane was described as a quiet and misunderstood loner and hunting enthusiast who didn’t talk much but helped other teens through their problems. A representative for his family said the teen was making good grades and doubling up on his classes to graduate early. He was living with family members and his mother.
Lane told a judge during an arraignment hearing yesterday that he chose his victims randomly.
Incidents like this one, similar to the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, the 1999 Columbine High School shooting in Colorado and a splattering of other cases have many wondering whether anything could have been done to prevent the disaster.
With schools having the multiple responsibilities to educate youth under budgetary constraints and meet various state, local and federal standards, it is unreasonable to expect them to figure out who may have mental health issues as well?
Or is it?
Author and Teen psychologist Dr. Barbara Greenberg suggests that when teenagers kill there may be untreated mental illness involved. The prosecutor in the case described Lane as “not well” for taking a 22-caliber Ruger semiautomatic pistol and firing 10 rounds.
"Children fall into social status categories; kids that are at the highest risk of aggression tend to be rejected kids,” noted the Psychology Today columnist who says she has worked with hundreds of teens with psychological trauma and other issues.
Even while recognizing that these types of tragedies are hard to predict, Greenberg said there are certain things and changes that, if implemented, may possibly help lessen the likelihood of other types of incidents like this one.
While all indications are that this incident was unrelated to bullying, the fact people thought it was meant that we all know bullying is still a big problem in our schools.
“Children who witness and know of children who are being bullied also experience anxiety, depression and helplessness,” she said.
It would help if schools could implement a system that permits students to anonymously alert administrators of a problem.
“If you aren’t doing anything about bullying or maltreatment, you’re sort of implicitly saying it is okay,” Greenberg added. No one wants to be labeled the snitch and therefore school officials could set it up so it is relatively easy for students to step up and help another child in need.
“Part of being a friend is intervening is taking care of one of another,” Greenberg added, noting that part of the problem comes from our American society that encourages people to toughen up and fails to protect those kids who just don’t have it in their nature to be hard and tough.
“What’s happening also is that sometimes when kids do take a concern to school officials, they aren’t taken seriously and get dismissed,” she said of educators who have such a full plate that they don’t make protecting vulnerable kids a priority.
It’s easy for the attractive athlete to get passes in their bad behavior. Think of George Huguely who was recently convicted of brutally beating his girlfriend, University of Virginia lacrosse player Yeardley Love to death last year. He was known for being a bully in high school.
People just advance to one stage to the next in life continuing the pattern – unless something or someone steps in early in their lives to alter their behavior.
Beyond taking an active position on curtailing bullying, Greenberg said teachers need to become trained to pay attention to more than just grades and academic, and to also take notice on how kids interact in non academic settings, who they are lunching with and who is virtually friendless.
“We’re not paying attention in this country to mental health,” she said.
She said there are situations also where teachers overlook signs that a youngster is harassing other children because she or he wants that student to like her and not give a rough time in class.
“Teachers sometimes align themselves with bullies,” Greenberg says.
Parents too should look for signs that their kid may be bullying others in school or may a victim to it. As to which children become bullies, Greenberg points out that “kids mimic or model older siblings or parents, they interpret events differently, have a temperament conducive to bullying or are part of a group of kids who do it and they say nothing. “
Signs that a child is a victim of bullying include a drop in grades, disinterest in a sport or activity, changes in peer group or a loss or increase in appetite. She added parents need to also know what kids are looking up on the internet and remain vigilant.
At the end of the day the answer seems to always be not just monitoring teens alone, but taking an active interest and involvement in their lives and certainly not ignoring the warning signs that something is not right.
Editors Note: This column was amended on March 1, 2012
Read more Politics of Raising Children in The Communities at the Washington Times. Follow Jeneba Ghatt at @JenebaSpeaks. Her work can also be read at JenebaSpeaksm BlackWeb 2.0 and Politic365. She also co-hosts a Blog Talk Radio show called Right of Black which tackles current events and politics from a perspective not often seen in the mainstream media.
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