Why do you think there are so many school shootings now?

I don't think the issue can be distilled down to a "this is the reason why" situation. There are myriad reasons why the culture is so much different today. We can point to the removal of God, the Pledge, and respect for authority (teachers) from the classroom. We can also point to the breakdown of the family unit, tolerance of alternative lifestyles, political correctness, social media, moral decline, and "everyone is a winner" mentalities. It's just my opinion but I believe ALL of these play a part in the disintegration of society. We've removed the consequences of our actions and told our children that "hey, as long as YOU feel good it's OK". We've failed to teach our youth the value of life (human and otherwise). Let's not overlook the media's role in all of this as well. They've dramatized, sensationalized, and over-hyped each incident to the point these individuals are seeing similar events as their chance at immortal fame.

I don't have the answers. If I did, I would probably be sitting at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave instead of grinding out a meager living in the foothills of the Smokies.

Bullying and mobbing are common tactics used to gain social status. Find a weaker student, gang up on him/her with classmates, isolate, repeat. Bullying can have long-term mental consequences. Workplace shootings, as well as school shootings, are the result of bullying/mobbing action by colleagues/classmates.

Lack of proper discipline at home and school.

Some really good responses here, and I can see all of them have merit. The question is: if you started tomorrow and put God back in the classroom and parents had to beat their kids, would it stop? I don't think so. I think it's way too complex and some of these things mentioned have had just as big an impact. I have never seen a kid who overcame their issues with an a** whooping, but perhaps you have. I think it's more about how they are parented, or lack thereof.

Since the States closed virtually all mental health hospitals across the country decades ago, there is no place to place persons who have a mental disorder. That is until they break the law and end up in prison. Once the hospitals were closed down, some patients went into halfway homes, others released to parents/guardians who wanted them to "live a normal life". Many of these patients are on antidepressants and are not followed by a trained psychologist or psychiatrist, if they are even seen by a General Practitioner that would be a miracle.
The other problem is with today's youth, and twenty-somethings". They live in a world in which they played computer games during all of their informative years. Many have no social skills (talking online is not a social skill). Many are severe introverts and easily offended by other people's opinions that do not relate to their beliefs, but because they have no social skills they lash out. Some physically, others with whatever weapon that they can get their hands on, knife, ax or firearms.
We here about these mass causalities because the media has an agenda, and the sensationalism builds their ratings. We hear nothing about the daily shootings in large cities like Chicago, the New Your Boroughs, Durham or Charlotte, NC, etc. We only get to hear what the media cranks out to fuel the fire.
If we just opened up the mental health hospitals again, these people would get the help that they need. Oh yes, and it would create more jobs. Forget the usual hospital elitists, I mean janitors, electricians, plumbers, cooks, etc.

And as we learned this evening, the FBI had the shooter on their radar (people reporting the persons actions, etc.) and the FBI did nothing.

I couldn't agree with you more. I am almost 70 and the way our families are run today is exceedingly different from back when I was raised. At times I thought my parents, particularly my father, were overbearing, unkind, downright mean. Now I know different. Wisdom sometimes arrives very late in life. Not only taking God out of the classroom but the flag and pledge is gone from many schools in California. I just do not understand.

SSG(P) (Join to see) I do believe at the top of the list that taking GOD out of the schools was the first big event that opened the door to anarcy. Now, it is not as elementary as this , but the foundation was lain. Next, that unbelief attitude took over the family. So if parents are not equipped with the relevant tools (for any project or belief), kids will follow the path leading out of their own homes ( of course, a child's home life is not the rule for bad behavior - parents are not responsible for every wrong committed by children). The spirit in which child abuse legislation was drafted has taken a dog dive and backfired in its' intent. The system became overwhelmed with calls of abuse by children who use the resource to protect their bad behavior and adults who wanted to make unnecessary problems for parents they disliked, which seems to have put the controllable behavior problems in the court systems and law enforcement systems lap. So, I firmly believe tearing GOD out of the school system was the catalyst for what we have now. Taking GOD out of law making, out of the courthouses, off of public lands and monuments, is (by my humble faith) gave permission for lawlessness to rise up and allow baby's, adolescences, teenagers, young adults to birth rage and misdirection into shooting peers.

It get's the most attention at the moment in time and place.

I agree with your position that children are less supervised and disciplined in our day. One of the most damaging aspects of our social deterioration is that children's "rights" are being emphasized over their responsibilities. Couple that with the fact that children even up to the age of 18 see the world through an inexperienced and undeveloped lens. Children who walk out of class to "protest" election results are doing so without having even attended a civics class or a clear understanding of how our system works. It doesn't help that would-be adults in positions of influence are visibly acting just as immature, and doing so for the whole of society to see.

The break-down of the nuclear family is another factor. The old paradigm was a couple getting married and having children, raising them, then growing old together. Now, irresponsible sexual behavior with a lack of sense for responsibility is the norm. There was a time when being a single parent was the result of a divorce or death. Now single parenthood is something that is celebrated as a choice, rather than being respected out of a set of unfortunate circumstances.

Then there's social media. Social media is not "news" media, but everyone is influenced by things that are presented there. I, myself, have even allowed an item or two to ruffle my fur...that is, until I took a deep breath and attempted to get more perspective on the subject. Social media does one thing well, it isolates individuals from natural interaction with others. Isolation from others filters personalities and breeds ignorance in the nuances of reading others face to face. It also numbs individuals' empathy for one another. After all, it's "just a computer".

Which leads to the subject of violence in video games, which most parents unwittingly encourage because it keeps kids quiet and pacified for the most part. Get your head blown off in a war game? Simple, restart and go at it again...ignoring reality.

Then add our most recent ingredient into the mix..."You're special and unique so don't let anyone tell you that you can't be what you want to be." This has been the most perverted truth propagated in modern history. While it is true in the proper context, it has also been made to convey false entitlement. It has bred a sort of "Self Identification Du Jour" that will affect the masses for years to come. The notion that one can "self-identify" with being something that they are not, and will never be genetically, breeds confusion and division within a society where a modicum of virtue is required to exist in harmony with others.

I don't think that these issues are limited to children; however, childhood is where most of these issues begin. And there has been a disturbing trend with the ages of the perpetrators. I say that this is where we need to begin looking and taking steps to correct. In all solutions sought need to be carefully weighed and be spiritually and constitutionally sound.