On September 13, 25-year-old Kimveer Gill launched a shooting rampage at Montreal’s Dawson College, killing one student and seriously injuring a dozen more.

What motivated him? Media reports pointed to violent video games, web sites, and Goth culture. No one mentioned the violent example set by the people in power.

In response to the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School, President Bill Clinton pleaded on national television, “We must teach our children to resolve their differences with words, not weapons.” At the very moment that Clinton was preaching nonviolence, the U.S. military was bombing cities in Yugoslavia.

The capitalist class have no problem killing people who stand in their way, yet they act surprised and shocked when individuals follow their example.

Adolescent shock

Gill expressed profound discouragement in his online journal: “Work sucks … School sucks … Life sucks … What else can I say?”

Such alienated feelings are common.

As young people become aware of the world as it actually is, they experience a profound disconnect between what they were led to believe and the injustice they experience.

In response, some become depressed or fearful. Others become enraged. Too many kill themselves. Occasionally, one becomes homicidal.

The answer is not mass ‘mental health’ screening but mass protest to help young people channel their anger into fighting for a society that values and supports each and every one of them.