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Dear FRONTLINE,
I was extremely disappointed by the Kip Kinkel Frontline segment--which did little to spotlight the real cause of the tragedy--Kip's untreated or improperly treated mental illness.
School violence cannot be solved with more cops on campus as we are attempting to do in this country--but rather, with more mental health professionals on-site in our schools to provide parent education, student counseling and referrals to qualified psychiatrists where necessary. ...
If you suspect your child may have a mental health problem, please contact your local Mental Health Assn. or the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill NAMI for more information.
By the way, a new book was just released on one form of childhood mental illness--it is called "The Bipolar Child." Among the best pieces of advice it offers are to avoid putting bipolar manic depressive kids on the SSRI class of anti-depressants including Prozac since this can make their condition worse. ...
Most importantly, please recognize that mental illness happens to families of all races, socioeconomic classes, educational backgrounds, etc. Sometimes the most ill children have the most nurturing parents--but even the best parent is lost without adequate information and support.
P.S. Another great book is "It's Nobody's Fault: New Hope and Help for Difficult Children" by Harold Koplewicz, M.D.--and his recently published "Childhood Revealed" featuring the artwork of kids with special needs including depression, learning disabilities, autism and more.
Thank you for the opportunity to share these views.
Lynn Trimble
Dear FRONTLINE,
I am a social work consultant with twelve years experience working with troubled teens. The red flags were present in the case of Thurston High, as they are in other incidents of school violence.
I believe Kip could not find his identity, his role in his family, at his school, or in his community. His frustration and depression were relieved by choosing an identity of power and control through the use of weapons. All this was magnified by the media's glorification of violence.
The rage inside, in some, turns outward towards others. I cannot tell you why some act on their rage while others don't. My guess is that it is genetic, and people who commit homicide are the outliers on a bell-shaped curve.
Parents must become aware of the red flags of depression and rage in their children. And, most importantly, parents must keep their boundaries. Children go through developmental stages that require them to try and "wear a parent down". It is the job of parents to say no when it involves issues around health and safety.
A client of mine with an extensive history of violence once told me that it took the criminal justice system for him to finally understand, "No."
D. Blake
Albuquerque, NM
Dear FRONTLINE,
The program ended more than an hour-and-a-half ago, and I still cannot go to sleep. I can't get the sound of Kip's sobs out of my head as he confessed to police after he was arrested. It astounds me prosecutors would try to portray this young man as a cold-blooded killer; if there were ever a case for mental illness, this was it. Hindsight is perfect vision, and looking back, there were red flags everywhere for his parents to see. They are now dead because they didn't.
I don't see Kip as an evil person; I see him as a scared kid who, by reason of mental illness and teenage isolation, felt he had no recourse but to kill. What a uniquely American tragedy.
Jeff Gillan
Dear FRONTLINE,
I have to say, I have mixed feelings following your presentation of the life of Kip Kinkel. I think that a message needs to be sent to parents, teachers, children, and the world, but also worry about any press given to those that commit these hideous acts. I wish that you would have focused more on the victims and the victims families. I worry that press only stimulates others to "copycat" these crimes. As a family member of a victim of Columbine I wrestle with this issue daily. I do not think that your program glorified this act in any way, but press is press, fame is fame, and notoriety is notoriety. I hope that in the future you can spend more time honoring those killed, and focusing more on possible solutions.
Shawn Anna
Dear FRONTLINE,
Although I am 49, I can related to Kip Kinkel, not fitting in at school and not living up to parents expectations. But that's all I can relate to. My rejection by schoolmates and dissatisfied parents NEVER once made me consider harming, much less killing, anyone.
So, why do more kids kill today. We make it easier for them. We make it romatic, we glorify it, we give them access to guns and shelter them from the truth about death and violence. Our society solves it problems with violence and Kip was doing what we as a society had taught him. Yes, Kip Kippel pulled the trigger but he did it with a gun that fired 48 rounds.
My heart cries out in pain when I hear stories about kids like Kip. Who's at fault -- Kip, his parents, me, and you. Until we all face up to the violence and greed that underminds our society there will be many more Kip Kinkels.
Bill Wood
Shreveport, LA
Dear FRONTLINE,
I am a 34 year old male, and twenty years ago I had the same thoughts and feelings expressed by Kip in his journal. I believe that if I'd had the same access to guns that Kip had, I might have done something just as stupid. I know this kid's pain and the pain of others like him. His parents "tried" to help by taking him to counselors, etc. Why not talk to him? Talk about the times you didn't fit in, give him hope. According to his journal, that's what he wanted. He just gave up trying to find it. I'm lucky. I didn't give up, but its a fight every day to find some.
Vincent Joyce
Denton, Texas
Dear FRONTLINE,
I just finished watching your program and was in disbelief about how a parent could provide weapons to a child of this age. But what I find even more abhorent is the fact that the English teacher would show a movie such as "Romeo+Juliet" to 15 year olds. This movie, from the teacher's own mouth, glorifies violence and death. I know this movie is only rated PG-13, but my question is....what is wrong with our "rating" system and more importantly, what is wrong with our education system?
As I parent I would object to my teenage daughter being shown this movie in a public school under the guise of "art" or "education".
Richard Pleasant
Shenandoah, VA
Dear FRONTLINE,
I object very strongly to the way in which Michael Kirk presented The Killer at Thurston High. Instead of helping us understand, empathize,and act, his film used all the tricks of Hollywood to sentimentalize and trivialize this story. The slick and silky voice of the narrator, the dreamy music, the whirligig of images, the prurient camera angles, the use of cliche-laden comments, the smirking teenagers, the unctuous friends and teachers--all seemed primed to present a community devoid of real feeling and rigorous reasoning. You made of this terrible event just another 90 minutes of glibness, sentimentality, and trivia. Worse, I can imagine many teenagers being just vaguely amused or bored by this soap opera,or even,perhaps, encouraged in their own alienation, despair, and violence. Nobody in the film seemed willing to take an adult critical stand in face of this horror. This does us all a grave disservice.
Peter Lock
Minneapolis, MN
Dear FRONTLINE,
I too found it impossible to go right to bed after this emotional but sadly true story of this normal american family. I have 2 teens and am confronted with many of the same situations that faced Kip and his family. The one thing that the show did not show was the family's faith perspective. Did they believe in God, did they go to church, what kinds of things did they teach their children about the world other than culture and academic endeavors? Did they ever teach them how to help others? I wonder if they had- Kip may have not felt so lonely and sorry for himself- if he knew he was helping others and had some kind of faith in God.
jeri shaw
villa park, il
Dear FRONTLINE,
After watching the program tonight, I have a completely different view of Kip. It seems like his parents just didn't see the signs of trouble. I feel very sorry for him. As a retired teacher, I can remember children that I thought were in need of help, and could be headed for trouble as they got older, but I was also confronted with a brick wall! So many parents, and even school counselors, and administrators stick their heads in the sand. It was always a very frustrating feeling. We have a case right now in the district that I taught in - the boy's teachers had been appealing to the parents for a year to get him help. So many parents just can't bring themselves to admit that there might be a problem, or maybe hope that it will go away. Sometimes it doesn't, and a similiar situation arises. I feel very, very sorry for Kip. I'm so glad that I watched the program.
L. A,. Edinger
Dear FRONTLINE,
Having observed high school kids for thirty years, I know how much tougher the world is today for kids, especially sensitive or even disturbed kids. Don't blame the school or the parents. Guns are everywhere and Kip proved he had access to weapons without his father's help. Both the school and his parents sought professional help. This is a story that is only too common. Counselors, therapists, mental health professionals time and again turn loose the sick and the dangerous with bromides and shrugs. I feel gun dealers should be held responsible for selling their wares and mental health professionals should be equally responsible for their disastrous blunders. Why are they exempt from accountability for their incompetence?
Sue Kinsey
Dear FRONTLINE,
I think that it is simply intuitive that a culture that glorifies guns and violence under the cloak on 1st Amendment freedom's will produce kids like Kip. Research may be inconclusive in this matter, but tht does not mean that there is no connection, and most intelligent people will agree that environments saturated with violence will affect impressionable teenagers.
Another troubling fact was that a Kip's psychologist would discuss guns with Kip. Additionally, the fact that Kip was taken off Prozac after only 3 months, when any competent mental health professional knows that major depression requires at least 1 full year of medication demonstrates the gross negligence that this "experts" committed.
Steve Erickson
Buffalo, NY
Dear FRONTLINE,
This program tore at my heart. "There, but for the grace of God, go I." was my feeling when I heard of the struggles of this family. Why were the parents not committed with the same persistance to therapy that they were to sports? There is so much good information for parents who are committed to making a difference with their families. Love is not enough. Don't wait for problems in your families. Go out there and get skills to become a better parent, and work at it as if your life depends on it.
glenna Auxier
gainesville, fl
Dear FRONTLINE,
Your episode tonight was effectively disturbing. As a volunteer in youth-oriented organizations, I see over and over the effects that emotional neglect has on children, especially on boys. Kip's parents knew he was troubled, and should have made his therapy priority one in their lives. Unfortunately for them and Thurston High School that they didn't. I am dismayed at a society that cannot intervene with mental help when it is so obvious help is needed.
Jim Gibson
Pennsauken, NJ
Dear FRONTLINE,
Thank you for the thoughtful and disturbing show on the shooting at Thurston High School. As a principal of a high school I know that we in education work everyday to try to help those children who come to us with insecurity, anger, and desolation in their hearts. At a time when Kip Kinkel believed that he had "no other choice", he had ready access to an arsenal of guns. It is the combination of those two facts that makes this a tragedy.
pam burke 
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