Did he have a dog ?

Did he,  did Adam Lanza have a dog?  What was his childhood like, what was his life like. He was not close to his brother, that can be seen by the non contact for two years.  His family apparently had wealth , judging from the home. Would it have been better to spend some of that wealth on care ?  These are the answers to the questions that are demanded.  What happens to these people in their development and stages that sends them off like this.

All of the shooters of this type we have seen  were socially disconnected.  Socially disconnected in the extreme. The Aurora shooter was slightly older but also coming unraveled.  Lanza is 20 years old, spends his time not working. Although I question if he would be able to work at all given his apparent condition. Work is an important part of anyone's life.  Any kind of work, volunteer work, internship, paid employment.  But he appears to have gotten to the point of life where he was totally cut off from anyone.

 He spends his time not going to school.  School is an important socializing factor for all young people.He stopped taking courses at the local college.   Had he gone to school a few hours per week, he would be out of the house and interacting with others.  It is a diversion.  It is touchstone normal.  Going to school is something expected and considered normal.

Did he belong to a gym, did he have any activities other than computer games and video games which he reportedly played constantly.  Did he go out to the movies with friends, did he go to the game with friends.  Apparently not.  I feel sorry for him in his isolation chamber.  I feel that is one of the reasons why he broke out and exploded.

Was there something outside of his room that he enjoyed ?

Did he have a dog ?  This is another way of saying was there some other living thing that he could connect to in some form or fashion, that he could and would be drawn to and would care about.  Get your kid a dog, let your child learn to care for and provide for and play with some living thing.  Let him grasp the idea of love and caring for another living thing.  This Adam Lanza has been reported as being disconnected.  We need to connect them up, even if it is only to a dog.

Am I totally simplistic in my approach or is there something flawed in their upbringing and treatment that can be rectified.  I have not heard a single word about any form of treatment that Adam Lanza was getting or had gotten in his life.  I lived in the same house for 30 years and across the street from me was a man who resided with his mother, he was mentally ill, and in that 30 years he received no treatment.  So he self medicated with pot and booze to the point where he died of liver disease.  His father had left him a millionaire, yet there was not a single dime spent on treatment.  He was of the type that was very much treatable.

The politicians and the social scientist clammor for gun control in the wake of these tragedies. Failing to recognize the scope of gun ownership.  There is one gun for every man woman and child in this country.  What they really need to be screaming for is --Mental Health treatment, care, recognition and outreach.  Mr. President scream for health, scream for parenting, scream for family  all of those elements seem to be missing in the mix of these young men who have gone off.

Today, I saw a story about therapy dogs being brought to Newtown, very beautiful, docile , gentle , loving Golden Retreivers. People pet the dogs and learn to smile again for a few minutes.  Would it be that people would hook their troubled kids up with a therapy dog long before they are needed.   Get the dog to let the troubled child have something, something to love and be loved by.