Phil Chalmers
“We know the horrifying effect entertainment has on our own teenagers. The more we sell out poisonous culture to other countries, the more violence we will be spreading. Youth violence is a global concern that needs to be addresses on an intervention level—before it’s too late.”
Warning: If you find true crime about school shootings and teen violence disturbing do not read this book.
This was an interesting read but incredibly challenging to finish. Inside the Mind of A Teen Killer is unfocused and misleading. You will not find in-depth interviews with teens who have committed crimes. You will learn of a handful of lesser known cases and about the teens who committed them. There are a few quotes from the teens, but I wouldn’t venture to say you get to dive inside their minds.
You will find the influences of teen criminals listed below. I found the information interesting, but had to giggle at the author’s two cents and rational—especially about #2. The world is changing. In a negative or positive way? I don’t know. We can point fingers, but we cannot bring back the “good ‘ol days” they are dead and gone.
- Abusive home life/bullying
- violent entertainment and pornography
- anger, depression, suicide
- drugs and alcohol abuse
- cults and gangs
- easy access and fascination with deadly weapons
- peer pressure
- poverty and a criminal lifestyle
- lack of spiritual guidance and appropriate discipline
- mental illness and brain injuries
To be honest, I did not like this book. The author had interesting ideas and lightly touched on great topics like conditions of prisons and creating rehabilitation programs within prison for those who have committed crimes and are addicted to drugs, but as a whole was quick to push his views and message over discussing the facts.
I respect the amount of research work Chalmers put into this book. I don’t want to take away from the fact it was interesting , but challenging for me to finish because I read it as an attack on the 21 century. Drastic I know. You may read this book and get a completely different feel, if you do please come back and tell me what you think.
I am a Millennial. I, like many others, grew up in this “dangerous” world playing violent video games, watching the Saw series, listening to rock music, going to rock concerts, and viewing various other “graphic violent sexualize” material spoken of in this book. I have held a professional job, have a professional career, and have never committed a violent act in my life. Maybe I am desensitized, maybe I am apart of the growing problem, maybe the world is changing and teens are too? Maybe those who commit awful acts don’t have a rhyme or reason? To blame genres of music, video games, or PG-13 movies is silly to me. Personally, what makes a violent teen? Who know what shapes a person? Nature or nurture?
Inside the Mind of a Teen Killer is not all bad. This read was simply not for me, you may read it and love it. I would not recommend it.
Have you read this book? Do you want to? Do you think video games like Halo and Doom make a person more violent? What about rap or rock music?
Lit Lemon Books 
Great post. I agree that it’s tough to read an author who is pushing views on you. I haven’t read this book and probably won’t. The only book I read that featured a school shooting was The Good Daughter (Karin Slaughter), and I appreciated that it wasn’t sensationalized (and that there was some criticism of sensationalizing such a thing). It also didn’t take you into the mind of the perpetrator – I don’t know that I could handle that.
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I read ‘we need to talk about kevin’ amd that one certainly was a chilling book about school s shootings. Im not sure it’s leading us anywhere to simply blaim the times we’re living in for those kind of things though. It is often a reason not to look further into what exactly drives teenagers for mass murder
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This scares the hell out of me. I probably couldn’t read it but at the same time it is important to learn. We need to listen.
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