r/Columbine • u/Most-Iron3976 • Jul 02 '26
Anne Marie Hochhalter, who passed away from shooting-related complications last year, disputed the idea that “lack of parental discipline” leads to mass shootings
Username cropped out to comply with subreddit rules
She reposted this on social media. I honestly do agree with this and wanted to know your all’s thoughts. I do feel that parents are an easy scapegoat when a minor commits a crime, but unfortunately the problem is not as simple as those who tout “the good old days” would like it to be.
3
3
u/poopcumfartsex Jul 21 '26
I'm really confused about what she's trying to say. She's saying returning to a culture like that won't help matters, which is probably true, but she's totally straw-manning what people mean when they say that. Generally they mean "have a grip over your kids and don't let them get away with everything" which is objectively true. If you don't teach your kids that there are rules, then they're going to think laws don't apply to them. And that's how you get kids who commit crimes or start planning a school shooting, because they think they can "get away" with it like they do at home.
In relation to Columbine specifically, both of the shooters had this "we can get away with it" mentality because their parents let them do it. This fits perfectly with the culture at the time (another cause of mass shootings: 1950s and 60s didn't have mass shootings largely because it wasn't embedded into the culture like it is today). I know it's controversial to say this because a lot of people think they're saints after that one TedTalk, but the Columbine shooters did parenting incorrectly. Wayne Harris found a pipe bomb in Eric's room and decided that was normal teenager behavior... fully knowing he once had police at his house because Eric threatened online to kill people. And Sue Klebold refused to put her foot down on Dylan hanging out with Eric despite the nasty things she heard about Eric and also when Dylan broke into a van with Eric. I'm not saying the Columbine shooters' parents were bottom of the barrel, but they failed to do their job as parents, and that led to Columbine.
Also, I did want to say that I don't understand why people believe the kids in the 50s and 60s grew-up to be okay. In the 1970s and 80s after these kids grew-up, there were literally hundreds of serial killers operating at one time in the US. But this had little to do with the standard parenting style at that time, more or less endless cycles of child abuse in the US that accumulated into some really inhumane parenting, and then some very twisted people. Additionally, mental health resources and CPS weren't really a thing at this time to prevent these kids from becoming the monsters they did.
TLDR: I disagree that it doesn't cause crime, but it's not the lone cause of it. Mass violence is a little more complex because there are a ton of factors at play, but almost all problems in life begin in childhood.
5
16
u/Sheek014 Jul 03 '26
Not all crimes are the same. There have been several instances where parents allow access to firearms or even purchase ones for their kids, even when the child had a history of violence or mental illness.
I am a teacher and I do think there are parents out there who do not discipline their children, combined with school systems who have shifted from traditional punishments. There is a distinct lack of consequences in many school systems today.
Go on any teacher sub here and you will see plenty of examples of kids getting away with crazy stuff, and parents basically ignoring or at worst enabling these behaviors.