Troubled Teens Resources

• Cruelty to animals & smaller children
• Morbid fascination (beyond normal for juvenile males) with violence and death
• Fascination with fire /fire-setting
• Threats or talk about killing or harming others
• Considered “weird” or dangerous by peers
• Uncontrollable temper tantrums, especially at early ages
• Narcissistic, thinks others have no rights
• History of enuresis (bedwetting)

* Note, though, that many children possess one or
more of these signs without becoming killers.
(Source)

School killer, cult killer, parricidal and gang killer. That is how this particular author has grouped types of teen killers.

Perhaps it is the teenage topic least talked about. Kids that kill. It is a hard proposition for a parent to entertain, and it takes a special kind of courage to examine your teens behavior specifically seeking out traits that forewarn of that type of violence. Since Columbine much literature has been written. An interesting body of work has been produced by Dr. Helen Smith, a forensic psychologist who has interviewed over 5000 adolescents.

On her site, ViolentKids.com, she goes into the results of a survey on violence, returned by over 1500 teenagers. She has a new survey available for teenagers to take now. She also served as executive producer and writer on the documentary SIX.

Her findings are startling and fascinating, but more importantly, it is much needed material for the parent that may be grappling with the thought that their teenagers may walk down this path. Intervention at the earliest possible stage would seem critical.