I don't have children of my own, but I think part of the problem is that the youth of today have been led to believe that they are somehow owed something in life. I also believe that they are just exposed to way more media than we ever were, perpetuating the myth that if one works hard at something they naturally will succeed at it. Television is very formulaic and the problem always gets resolved within the hh or hr long sitcom, etc. While generally true, sometimes one needs to attempt something several times or different ways before reaching that goal. The truth of the matter is that life can be hard and when parents reward every little achievement or cave in to every little demand (e.g. child throws tantrum at cash register so parent buys them whatever to stop it rather than firmly saying no and carrying on) the child learns that if they don't get their way acting out will accomplish this. Homicide is the ultimate way of acting out their frustration at not getting what they want and suicide is anger turned inward. I'm not saying the old way of doing things was necessarily better as it could be overly strict, but we've gone too far the other way and have created a false sense of entitlement for these kids.
