The Real Root of School Violence
How many are looking at the schools themselves as the conduit through which millions of students are drugged with mind-altering drugs?
by Tom DeWeese
In the brave new world of the very near future, children will enter their public schools passing police checkpoints, surveillance cameras, metal detectors, X-ray scanners and warrantless physical searches. Parents will relax, knowing their child is now “SAFE.” No violent evil doers will be able to get past that wall of security.
But what none of the checkpoints, scanners and cameras will detect is the child who walks right past, armed to the teeth with a hidden weapon actually enforced on him by the school itself. The weapon comes in many names and varieties: Ritlin, Luvox, Prozac, Zoloft, Cymbalta, Paxil, and more. Each weapon lovingly loaded into their child by concerned parents before they send them off to their “safe” school. And while the child’s backpack and pockets are checked by the armed force on the way in, the pharmaceutical poison is building up in his blood system, racing to the brain like a lit dynamite fuse.
As communities reel from one massive act of student violence after another, most recently in Newtown, Connecticut, the nation looks for answers. How many are looking at the schools themselves as the conduit through which millions of students are drugged with mind-altering drugs?
Some history. In 1965, the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), changed education forever as the seeds for today’s massive restructuring -away from academics to behavior modification – began. It was psychology’s crowning moment. The ESEA allocated massive federal funds and opened school doors to a flood of psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers and the psychiatric programs and testing needed to validate them. The number of educational psychologists in the U.S. increased from 455 in 1969 to 16,146 in 1992. As of 1994, child psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors and special educators in and around U.S. public schools nearly out-number teachers.
To date, there has never been issued a single peer- reviewed scientific paper officially claiming to prove ADD/ ADHD exists. Nor has there ever been a single bit of physical evidence to confirm the disease exists. So-called experts on the subject have refused to answer the simple question, “is ADD/ ADHD a real disease?” Medical researchers charge that ADHD does not meet the medical definition of a disease or syndrome or anything organic or biologic.
Yet, in 1991, eligibility rules for federal education grants were changed to provide schools with $400 in annual grant money for each child diagnosed with ADHD. That same year the Department of Education formally recognized ADHD as a handicap and directed all state education officers to establish procedures to screen and identify ADHD children and provide them with special education and psychological services. As a result, the number of ADD/ADHD cases soared again.
Today more than 7,000,000 children have been labeled, tamped and registered as permanent patients of the school system. 10 to 12 percent of all boys between the ages of 6 and 14 in the United States have been diagnosed as having ADD. One in every 30 Americans between the ages of 5 and 19 years old has a prescription for Ritalin. And the fuse burns as the “patients” sit in the classroom.
AS THE USE OF PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS RISE – SO TOO DO CHILD SUICIDES
Children are dying. Not just in shootings, but in rising incidents of suicide. Here are some details:
A November 1997 medical report found: “The association between benzodiazephine use and attempted suicide is especially high for…the young, and for males…” In the April 1996 Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, a study found that “the older tricyclic antidepressants are a significant cause of suicide” and accounted for the majority of antidepressant deaths studied between 1986 and 1990.
A December 1996 French study entitled, “Suicide and psychotropic drugs,” established that “suicide attempts are more frequent among patients taking antidepressants…”
In Denmark, with a huge usage of psychotropic drugs, the suicide rate is twice the rate of that in the United States…
In the U.S., teen suicides have tripled since 1960; today, suicide is the second leading cause of death…
In Israel, between 1981 and 1994, the estimated suicide rate for 15- to 19-year-old Jewish boys increased by about 183 percent. (Tellingly, the suicide rate dropped 10 percent during a 1997 period when Israel’s psychologists went on strike.)
Australia’s suicide rate increased between 1960 and 1967 when legislation was passed to enable a person to obtain multiple prescriptions for sedatives. When the law was modified in 1967 to restrict the practice, there was a decrease in per capita sedative usage and a decline in suicide rates.
Are we hearing an outcry from that tragedy? Are there calls for stopping, banning, regulating the use of these mind- altering drugs? Is the pharmaceutical industry being called on the carpet? Are there emergency congressional hearings being held to showcase the heads of big pharma as murdering criminals? Not on your life.
As the nation is outraged over the school shootings, demanding that something be done, guns become the target, not the drugs that filled the child’s mind with delusions to take such horrific action. Meanwhile the gun sits innocently in the corner, unmoving, unable to cause damage – until the real loaded weapon – the drugged student – picks it up.
View the full list with detailed information on the connection between drugs and school shootings
Tom DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education and American sovereignty and independence. Go to americanpolicy.org for more information
Click on the blue ‘What’ to access a story. Click on a red column heading to sort the index by that column. | ||||
What | Drug | Date | Where | Additional |
School Shooting | Prozac WITHDRAWAL | 2008-02-15 | Illinois | ** 6 Dead: 15 Wounded: Perpetrator Was in Withdrawal from Med & Acting Erratically |
School Shooting | Prozac Antidepressant | 2005-03-24 | Minnesota | **10 Dead: 7 Wounded: Dosage Increased One Week before Rampage |
School Shooting | Paxil [Seroxat] Antidepressant | 2001-03-10 | Pennsylvania | **14 Year Old GIRL Shoots & Wounds Classmate at Catholic School |
School Shooting | Zoloft Antidepressant & ADHD Med | 2011-07-11 | Alabama | **14 Year Old Kills Fellow Middle School Student |
School Shooting | Zoloft Antidepressant | 1995-10-12 | South Carolina | **15 Year Old Shoots Two Teachers, Killing One: Then Kills Himself |
School Shooting | Med For Depression | 2009-03-13 | Germany | **16 Dead Including Shooter: Antidepressant Use: Shooter in Treatment For Depression |
School Hostage Situation | Med For Depression | 2010-12-15 | France | **17 Year Old with Sword Holds 20 Children & Teacher Hostage |
School Shooting Plot | Med For Depression WITHDRAWAL | 2008-08-28 | Texas | **18 Year Old Plots a Columbine School Attack |
School Shooting | Anafranil Antidepressant | 1988-05-20 | Illinois | **29 Year Old WOMAN Kills One Child: Wounds Five: Kills Self |
School Shooting | Luvox/Zoloft Antidepressants | 1999-04-20 | Colorado | **COLUMBINE: 15 Dead: 24 Wounded |
School Stabbings | Antidepressants | 2001-06-09 | Japan | **Eight Dead: 15 Wounded: Assailant Had Taken 10 Times his Normal Dose of Depression Med |
School Shooting | Prozac Antidepressant WITHDRAWAL | 1998-05-21 | Oregon | **Four Dead: Twenty Injured |
School Stabbing | Med For Depression | 2011-10-25 | Washington | **Girl, 15, Stabs Two Girls in School Restroom: 1 Is In Critical Condition |
School Shooting | Antidepressant | 2006-09-30 | Colorado | **Man Assaults Girls: Kills One & Self |
School Machete Attack | Med for Depression | 2001-09-26 | Pennsylvania | **Man Attacks 11 Children & 3 Teachers at Elementary School |
School Shooting Related | Luvox | 1993-07-23 | Florida | **Man Commits Murder During Clinical Trial for Luvox: Same Drug as in COLUMBINE: Never Reported |
School Hostage Situation | Cymbalta Antidepressant WITHDRAWAL | 2009-11-09 | New York | **Man With Gun Inside School Holds Principal Hostage |
School Shooting | Antidepressants | 1992-09-20 | Texas | **Man, Angry Over Daughter’s Report Card, Shoots 14 Rounds inside Elementary School |
School Shooting | SSRI | 2010-02-19 | Finland | **On Sept. 23, 2008 a Finnish Student Shot & Killed 9 Students Before Killing Himself |
School Shooting Threat | Med for Depression* | 2004-10-19 | New Jersey | **Over-Medicated Teen Brings Loaded Handguns to School |
School Shooting | Antidepressant? | 2007-04-18 | Virginia | **Possible SSRI Use: 33 Dead at Virginia Tech |
School Shooting | Antidepressant? | 2002-01-17 | Virginia | **Possible SSRI Withdrawal Mania: 3 Dead at Law School |
School Incident/Bizarre | Zoloft* | 2010-08-22 | Australia | **School Counselor Exhibits Bizarre Behavior: Became Manic On Zoloft |
School/Assault | Antidepressant | 2009-11-04 | California | **School Custodian Assaults Student & Principal: Had Manic Reaction From Depression Med |
School Shooting | Prozac Antidepressant | 1992-01-30 | Michigan | **School Teacher Shoots & Kills His Superintendent at School |
School Shooting Threats | Celexa Antidepressant | 2010-01-25 | Virginia | **Senior in High School Theatens to Kill 4 Classmates: Facebook Involved: Bail Denied |
School Violence/Murder | Antidepressants* | 1998-05-04 | New York | **Sheriff’s Deputy Shoots his Wife in an Elementary School |
School Knifing/Murder | Meds For Depression & ADHD | 2010-04-28 | Massachusetts | **Sixteen Year Old Kills 15 Year Old in High School Bathroom in Sept. 2009 |
School Stabbing | Wellbutrin | 2006-12-04 | Indiana | **Stabbing by 17 Year Old At High School: Charged with Attempted Murder |
School Threat | Antidepressants | 2007-04-23 | Mississippi | **Student Arrested for Making School Threat Over Internet |
School Suspension | Lexapro Antidepressant | 2007-07-28 | Arkansas | **Student Has 11 Incidents with Police During his 16 Months on Lexapro |
School Shooting | Antidepressant WITHDRAWAL | 2007-11-07 | Finland | **Student Kills 8: Wounds 10: Kills Self: High School in Finland |
School Shooting | Paxil [Seroxat] Antidepressant | 2004-02-09 | New York | **Student Shoots Teacher in Leg at School |
School Threat | Prozac Antidepressant | 2008-01-25 | Washington | **Student Takes Loaded Shotgun & 3 Rifles to School Parking Lot: Plans Suicide |
School Shooting Plot | Med For Depression | 1998-12-01 | Wisconsin | **Teen Accused of Plotting to Gun Down Students at School |
School/Assault | Zoloft Antidepressant | 2006-02-15 | Tennessee | **Teen Attacks Teacher at School |
School Shooting Threat | Antidepressant | 1999-04-16 | Idaho | **Teen Fires Gun in School |
School Hostage Situation | Paxil & Effexor Antidepressants | 2001-04-15 | Washington | **Teen Holds Classmates Hostage with a Gun |
School Hostage Situation | Antidepressant WITHDRAWAL | 2006-11-28 | North Carolina | **Teen Holds Teacher & Student Hostage with Gun |
School Knife Attack | Med for Depression | 2006-12-06 | Indiana | **Teen Knife Attacks Fellow Student |
School Massacre Plot | Prozac Withdrawal | 2011-02-23 | Virginia | **Teen Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison For Columbine Style Plot |
School Shooting | Celexa & Effexor Antidepressants | 2001-04-19 | California | **Teen Shoots at Classmates in School |
School Shooting | Celexa Antidepressant | 2006-08-30 | North Carolina | **Teen Shoots at Two Students: Kills his Father: Celexa Found Among his Personal Effects |
School Shooting | Meds For Depression & ADHD | 2011-03-18 | South Carolina | **Teen Shoots School Official: Pipe Bombs Found in Backpack |
School Shooting Threat | Antidepressant | 2003-05-31 | Michigan | **Teen Threatens School Shooting: Charge is Terrorism |
School Stand-Off | Zoloft Antidepressant | 1998-04-13 | Idaho | **Teen [14 Years Old] in School Holds Police At Bay: Fires Shots |
School Shooting | Antidepressant WITHDRAWAL | 2007-10-12 | Ohio | **Teen [14 Years Old] School Shooter Possibly on Antidepressants or In Withdrawal |
School Threat | Antidepressants | 2008-03-20 | Indiana | **Teen [16 Years Old] Brings Gun to School: There Is a Lockdown |
School Suicide/Lockdown | Med For Depression | 2008-02-20 | Idaho | **Teen [16 Years Old] Kills Self at High School: Lockdown by Police |
School Threats | Prozac Antidepressant | 1999-10-19 | Florida | **Teen [16 Years Old] Threatens Classmates With Knife & Fake Explosives |
School Stabbing | Med For Depression | 2008-02-29 | Texas | **Teen [17 Year Old GIRL] Stabs Friend & Principal at High School |
School Hostage Situation | Prozac/ Paxil Antidepressants | 2001-01-18 | California | **Teen [17 Years Old] Takes Girl Hostage at School: He is Killed by Police |
School Knife Attack | Treatment For Depression & Strattera | 2009-03-10 | Belgium | **Three Dead in School Day Care: Two Children & a Caregiver: Happened Jan 23, 2009 |
School Shooting Plot | Antidepressants | 2009-09-22 | England | **Two English School Boys Plot to Blow Up High School |
School Arson Incidents | Paxil | 2002-04-12 | Michigan | **Unusual Personality Change on Paxil Caused 15 Year Old to Set Fires inside High School |
School Bomb Threat | Med For Depression | 2009-06-29 | Australia | **Vexed Father Makes Bomb Threat Against Elementary School |
School Violence | Antidepressant | 2005-11-19 | Arizona | **Violent 8 Year Old GIRL Handcuffed by Police at School |
School Violence | Celexa Antidepressant | 2002-01-23 | Florida | **Violent 8 Year-Old Boy Arrested At School |
School Threat/Lockdown | Lexapro* | 2008-04-18 | California | **Violent High School Student Shot to Death on Campus by Police |
School / Child Endangerment | Antidepressants | 2008-02-27 | Canada | **Wacky School Bus Driver Goes Berserk: Also Involved Painkillers |
School Violence | Paxil | 2004-10-23 | Washington DC | **Young Boy, 10 Year Old, Has Violent Incidents at School |
School Threat | Wellbutrin Antidepressant | 2007-04-24 | Tennessee | **Young Boy, 12, Threatens to Shoot Others at School |
School Hostage Situation | Med for Depression | 2006-03-09 | France | **Young Ex-Teacher Holds 21 Students Hostage |
School Shooting/Suicide | Celexa | 2002-10-07 | Texas | **Young Girl [13 Years Old] Kills Self at School With a Gun |
School Hostage Situation | Paxil | 2001-10-12 | North Carolina | **Young Man Holds Three People Hostage in Duke University President’s Office |
School Murder Attempt | Med For Depression | 1995-03-04 | California | **Young Woman Deliberately Hits 3 Kids with Her Car at Elementary School: Laughed During Attack |
** | Indicates a school shooting or school incident. |
* | Indicates a legal case won using SSRI defense. |
++ | Indicates an important journal article. |
+ | Indicates a highly publicized case. |
num | An age < 25 covered by FDA black box for suicide. |
Also please consider:
Gun Culture and Gun Control Culture
Anti Gun Media Urges Obama to “Track” People and Firearms
School Shooting Caused by Sinful Soul, Souless Education
Society Is Crumbling Right In Front Of Our Eyes And Banning Guns Won’t Help
Own Guns, So I Don’t Have To
Help Make A Difference By Sharing These Articles On Facebook, Twitter And Elsewhere: