Anonymous wrote:My mom was asking how our district was handling this after seeing on the national news. That was the first I had heard of it! Did MCPS send out a message and I just missed it?

Anonymous wrote:My mom was asking how our district was handling this after seeing on the national news. That was the first I had heard of it! Did MCPS send out a message and I just missed it?

Anonymous wrote:I read that the parents are Chinese PHD Statisticians. As someone who grew up in a Chinese household, I am not surprised to read that one of the parents dismissed everything as "fine" and that the kid would get therapy if he needed it - this was prior to the kid being taken into custody.
There is a lot of undiagnosed psychological issues in the Chinese population because of the need to maintain face. The culture's intense focus on studying and academics loses sight of the need to develop as a social being. My kid is studying in Asia this year and she and her American classmates still don't know how to react to the incredibly socially awkward kids at their college - so shy that they refuse to look at you, sometimes turn their entire body away, pretend you are not there....
This poor kid probably didn't get a whole lot of direction on social cues from his parents growing up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:He has had a few psychiatrist inpatient admissions. Seems the manifesto is parts of his real life mixed in with fiction.

There was more than just the manifesto/memoir/work of fiction. There were Google searches and the purchase of a BB gun.

According to him the manifesto was actually a book draft and the google searches were research for the book.

I didn't see anything about a BB gun but if he actually was planning to try to be a mass murderer or serial killer, a BB gun doesn't seem like a good choice.

It will be interesting to see where this goes given the mental health issues and fiction / non fiction aspects of the book / manifesto / plan.

He is facing ten years in prison given the charges. A long time for an 18 year old and even longer / more isolating given he is biologically female - probably would mean segregation or protective custody.

I also find it disturbing that people would defend the behavior by calling it a work of fiction. I mean, we have parents in this country who are serving prison sentences in connection with disturbing writings that were labeled works of fiction so we know the consequences of calling it wrong. I’m not saying it’s not a possibility, but the level of doubt expressed about the arrest is disturbing.

I think it’s pretty tragic that an 18 year old whose parents, the medical system and the school district seemingly worked hard to help is at the point where the future might realistically be a sentence of more than half of the life of this teen will be spent in prison. But the real scary thing is that despite a community of resources being poured into this teenager, this is where he is. It’s scary that we don’t know how to successfully treat some mental illness and that means that innocent people surrounding those whose conditions are intractable are vulnerable. It makes me really sad for the family - I can’t imagine their pain, but I am glad for them that it was discovered because their pain could be far worse.

It’s kind of like cancer. There are some kinds you can treat, and come you can’t. It’s sad, but that’s the way it is. Unfortunately this teen will need to be locked away or in a residential inpatient facility because he is clearly a threat to the general public. [/quote]

You know nothing about our broken mental health care system. You only get locked up for a few days if you are an *imminent* threat to yourself or others. It is a very narrow standard. No crime was committed so he can't be held convicted and then held involuntarily and private medical insurance will not pay for more than a few days hospitalization.

This is not correct. If you are wanting insurance to pay, it’s a high standard. But this kid has already been hospitalized for months at a time. And the state can keep you institutionalized even after you pass the imminent danger state.

But your point that our system is typically inadequate is well taken.