15-year-old teenager Hughstan Schlicker decided to kill his father after his father blocked access to MySpace.
Schlicker said he often spent entire days on MySpace and couldn’t cope when his father cut off his access to the site.
“It felt like I was stabbed with a knife and it went straight through and … no matter how hard I pulled, I couldn’t pull out the knife,” Schlicker said, according to an interview transcript in the police report.
As with any disturbing case, one can only guess as to what exactly was going through this kid’s head. Was he simply a crazed MySpace addict, or was there more below the surface? In the article he says he hated his father. Perhaps there was some form of domestic abuse, and using MySpace was his way of disconnecting himself away from his home life, and when that was shut off, he simply snapped. Who knows. Our thoughts are with the Schlicker family during this very difficult time.
Here is the article and video of the teenage killer.
It’s a big jump to speculate about domestic abuse. Teenagers often become disproportionately angry with their parents, and its’ not unusual for them to say they “hate” a parent over something fairly petty, especially decisions that restrict them in any way. Adolescence is a time when judgment is usually poor and teens often have a very narrow view of the world. Suicidal feelings are common among teens because they see their problems as much bigger than they really are and lack the perspective of being able to envision a different future. In the article, the boy later admitted that his father was a loving parent and said he missed him.
What I wondered was, why in the world did this parent leave a gun and ammunition lying on a counter? Basic gun safety requires that weapons be stored safely, and that when minors are present in the household, guns should be kept in locked cabinets.