Tulsa, OK

That is such a terrible thing to say as a parent. Unfortunately, it seems to be too true to ignore. Maybe it’s just that she’s only six, but I really thought she should be showing some signs of empathy by now. She doesn’t. Not at all. Maybe it’s ADD or ADHD, which seem to have reached epidemic proportions in our country. Whatever the problem is, it really worries me.

A certain amount of selfishness is to be expected from young children. But at what point does that natural self-focus turn into an unhealthy self-absorbtion? I am concerned with the increasing numbers of sociopaths running rampant in our society. I don‘t want to be raising one. And if I am, is there anything that I,as a parent, can do to change it?

There seems to be as much evidence for the nature argument as there is for the nurture side. I’m sure we’ve all read the stories about serial killers that just seemed bad from birth. But, there are also people whose lives turned them into psychotic killers. How do you know though? Is every kid that likes to torment the family pets doomed to be a Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer or Charles Manson? Or was there something their families could have/should have done to stop the terrifying course their lives would take? Was there a defining moment in their lives where things could have gone differently? How do you recognize those moments in your own life and the lives of those you love?

I certainly don’t have the answers, and I’m not sure that anyone does. But burying our heads in the sand and ignoring the increasing numbers of antisocial people is unlikely to solve the problem. I guess all you can do is pay attention to them, show them through your own behaviour what is and is not acceptable, love them and hope for the best.

ADD, ADHD, sociopaths, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Charles Manson, pets, evil, selfish, anti-social, nature vs. nurture, empathy