Oh, No, He Was Homeschooled

Even before I read this headline, I already suspected (and feared) that the latest young male mass shooter was homeschooled.

The first reports mentioned his name, Nehemiah, a name from the Bible. That his dad was a pastor. That there were ten kids in his family. Sure sounded like homeschoolers to me. But now I know for sure.

Previous mass shooters had attended school, and had often been bullied. There would be mention of violent video games (something this shooter wasn’t allowed to play). And of course plenty of blame has been put on the violence kids see on television and at the movies (but this boy’s parents didn’t allow that).

So how did this happen? What made this boy snap?

The first article quotes sources as saying the boy had long had murder/suicide fantasies. I have to wonder if he was on psychotropic meds. Many kids are these days. The more kids that are prescribed these drugs, the more kids we will see suffering from side effects that include suicidal and homicidal impulses. Could that be related to these shootings? Because now that we’ve ruled out school bullying and violent video games and movies, what else could be causing this horrible trend?

This family and their friends and loved ones are in my prayers.