The Americanisation of Germany? Hope not,

Many germans thought that this could only happen in the US. But good morning Germany, reality is here.
Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.
Michael

I am a 28 year old freelance teacher and I, too, grew up in a rather small, rural town here in Germany. It is very disturbing to see how "little" it obviously takes for a young man to commit such horrible deeds:

A gun lying about the parents bedroom, ammonition within in a young adult's touching distance. This paired with a serious lack of social contacts, probably close to total isolation, constant personal rejection and the daily humiliations for being in some way "different" from the people surrounding him.

I don't think it is so unlikey that you feel not only lonely but develop emotions like anger and hatred against those you see as their daily "tormentors".

Yet, apart from all the shock and horror, I find myself wondering what made that boy actually take the gun and shoot off his frustration and unhappiness in life. What was the last straw that turned a frustrated loner into a mass-murderer?

I don't think anyone but himself can ultimately be held responsible for his crimes. (Though, as a parent, I personally wouldn't keep guns in my household if there are kids around.)

I believe it isn't time to look at the ferocity of ego-shooter computer games or the effects pornography can have on you. Instead, why not take a look at how family life looks like nowadays? It doesn't take a bunch of psychologists or long-term studies on the effect of isolation and frustration on the human mind to see that something wrong has been and is going on in our "modern, western" society.

If Tim's online friend gets a direct message of "how life sucks" and that "he should watch out, he's gonna do something real tomorrow", I wonder why nobody else has noticed anything strange in his behavior long before?
Probably because he's always been somewhat strange, or simply different, and everyone thought that this simply was his "style".

Ignorance could be such a trigger. I wish people would just look around their peers a bit closer and talk to each other more, accept and support those that maybe even are "a bit different", rather than ignore them. I am convinced that much sorrow could easily be averted that way.

The events that unfolded yesterday baffled all of us. Last year I moved to Germany, and currently reside in a small town just minutes drive from Winnenden. I had spent the majority of my life in Oregon and witnessed plenty of acts of random violence. But I had always felt safe here. In small villages, it has always felt like the last remaining safe places in this world, and events like this serve as shocking reminders of the violent and dangerous world we live in.

While I look at this situation, as many have asking questions of why, how, could it not have been prevented? I am really disappointed by the media that has sprung forth out of this. Immediately we place the blame on violent video games, or gun access, and while I agree these are significant issues, I am disturbed by the blatant oversight of key issues.

I am in no way a supporter of weapons, but I stand 100% firm in the belief that guns don't kill people. People kill people. Take away one weapon and another can easily replace the void.

A more important question is why are our children feeling the need to lash out so violently. Teen suicides are at an all time high, and more and more children feel the need to commit vindictive acts of violence.
We teach our kids that bullying is a normal part of school, to toughen up and take it, and often overlook the very root of these issues that have the ability to impact a child for life.

I say in addition to reform of weapons laws, we need a reform of bullying or psychological abuse laws. It is easy to say words don't hurt people, but words can cut deeper than any blade.

While the crime this teen committed is horrific, it was not a freak incident. I guarantee there were mediating factors that lead to this point, ones that could have and should have been intercepted, and further who are we to judge?

Depressing news. So this is what we've come to, this is humanity?

We r shoked here in kenya coz we ve got of our beloved who we are afraid of being mudered can the german govt look into the issue b4 it broadens coz that country has been safe 4 a long time thanks

Living only 17 miles southeast of Winnenden I am sorta close to what happened. It's a horrible thing that happened and my thoughts and prayers are with the families that have lost loved ones and also with the family of Tim. I think no one will ever fully understand ...

However, what disgusts me ... all that politicians can come up with is: "Ban the killer games." As if that would solve anything! Since ... if everybody playing "Counterstrike" would go out and shoot people, the streets would be covered with blood. When I look outside the window, I don't see that happening, so playing "Counterstrike" (or similar) doesn't transform You into a killer (assuming here, since I am not a gamer). Politicians instead should think about what is going on in our society. They should think about giving teachers the resources to watch out. Parents seem to be unwilling or unable to do that in some cases. Tim K. was one of them ...

It always happen evrywhere ,in many instances by the restless youth .As it happened ,always several questions are asked ,why these innocents people are murdered ? why this kid so angry ? What motivated him to kill ?Why he forced to destroy his future by commiting this heinous crime at a very tender age ?As the world population increases , human desires to achieve what is best in life in many occasions are unreachable . The competitions in this age of high -tech societies are becoming crowded and tight . When one fails to achieve comes the frustrations into anger and hatred .At the end of the day ,a tendency to commit violence .The youth is also a copy- cat of many things he can see ,television and movie idol, entertainers,movie and television villains, etc., all these can influence his mental faculty and eventually drove him to re-enactment in real life .My sympathy to all those victims ,may their souls rest in quiet lie .

Your last sentence touched me so much. This is the only fact of this tragedy which we cannot understand.

"Warum?" / "Why?" is the common question of many horrified persons, not only in Winnenden but all over the world, not only in these days but, unfortunately, in many similar cases in the past, from the United States to Finnland.
I do not wonder at all at what happened. The reason is for me crystal clear. I do hope that this tragic case will not repeat itself but all the articles, reports and blogs appeared until now are a clear sign that we have learned nothing from these cases.
My studies on Psychology and my activity as a nurse in more than one mental hospital have helped me to understand (A) the real root of this insane behaviour and (B) to find the only secure method to stop once and for all its repeating.
(A) – The real deep root of these murders lies in an exaggerated megalomania, the desire to reach widespread attention on international scale, actually eternal fame, imitating previous cases like in a ritual execution (same robotic behaviour, similar external appearance) and – at the end – the suicide (which, then, is an idiotic act, because you cannot enjoy your eternal fame if you kill yourself. A particular attraction is provided by words like "amok", "killer", which give the impression to belong to a particular, higher category of human beings.
(B) – If we want to stop this madness and avoid that more young people must fall victims to it (not only the students, the teachers but also the murderers themselves, who do not realize how ill and weak they are) we must simply deny possible murderers any personal identification. This means that in the media there should be:
1) no name, not even the initials. No family name. Instead: every murderer must be identified (especially in the chronicle lists) with only these 3 unpersonal letters: XYZ.... plus an identification code, only for police purposes: f.i., XYZ49... (intern. Tel. for Germany; XYZ41...for Switzerland, and so on. At the end of it, the local police code, which should be agreed on an international base (especially important for past cases, with severe punishment, even prison, for any media or person who has revealed the real identity of the murderers.
Of course, the media should be allowed to report the case, describing where and how it happened, but without any picture of the murderer. If some photograph of him is reproduced, he must have no possibility of recognizing himself in it.
Finally, a serious consideration should be given to the necessity of prohibiting killer-game CDs and to the havoc produced, especially on the psyhe of young people by brutal, violent cassettes and TV programs.
Freedom is one of the highest human values, but it is a pity to misuse it in order to allow the spreading of something which can transform the weakest members of our society into frantic slaves.

Rin