The Left Keeps Parents Like The Nashville Shooter’s From Helping Their Anguished Kids

In the aftermath of the Nashville school shooter tragedy, the media blamed the parents for not accepting their daughter’s alleged transgender delusions. However, their influence could have been precisely what she needed to avert the crisis that led to her horrific actions. Unfortunately, the left’s policies often exclude parents from helping their distressed children in such situations.

The female shooter had started calling herself by a boy’s name and dressing more androgynously. In surveillance footage of the incident, she is seen donning fatigue and a backwards cap, breaking a glass door with a gun, and walking the halls with the composure and gait of an aggressive young male.

It is apparent that the shooter’s parents knew their child was in crisis. As many parents in similar situations do, they probably recognized that their child was grappling with severe anxiety and depression instead of being afflicted with gender dysphoria.

Studies show that children who express gender dysphoria do not necessarily show signs of it at an early age. These children typically experience social difficulties, feel like outcasts, may be on the autism spectrum, or may have undergone traumatic sexual experiences. They are not prone to violence and are often frail, susceptible, and unpredictive.

At times, they become unrecognizable to the people who once knew them best as they begin to assume a new gender identity. Parents of children and young adults who exhibit gender dysphoria frequently find themselves unsupported when they object to or challenge their child’s choices, which often leads to isolation or anger.

Three parents whose kids have become strangers to them due to LGBT ideology are featured in the recently released “Dead Name” documentary. In one case, a young woman’s relationship with her mother quickly deteriorates after she starts behaving angrily because she rejects her biological gender. In another scenario, a college freshman battling cancer shuns his father, who had supported him through surgeries and the loss of a leg, because he did not want to be questioned about his decision to pose as the opposite sex and use cross-sex hormones. The father merely wished to prevent his child from using hormones that could damage his weakened endocrine system. Regrettably, his efforts were fruitless and led to a debacle.

The left’s insistence on affirming their child’s gender delusions often causes parents to feel increasingly alienated and out of touch when their children become strangers. Ultimately, the parents experience a profound sense of mourning, regardless of whether their child is alive or dead.

Many children or young adults seeking to change their gender identities often do so in secret. They seek support from schools, online, and peer groups that share their beliefs. They may believe that they can find a world to catch them if they are not “affirmed” or feel out of place at home. Regrettably, that is not enough because they may lose the safety and affection of their nuclear family.

The Nashville shooter was likely living at home and dependent on her parents financially. However, despite her medical care, she was still distraught. It is likely that her mother felt her daughter slipping away long before she embarked on a suicidal mission to shoot young children. Nevertheless, she may also have felt powerless to provide her daughter with the sort of help she required.

It is necessary to discuss this conundrum. If the connection between mental illness and gun violence needs to be established, we must consider what it looks like. This latest incident veers from the norm and prompts a discussion about the link between transgender youth and mental health. The tragedy can provide us with valuable insights.

The parents who appear in the “Dead Name” documentary want us to study this tragedy in a thoughtful manner. Are we too politicized, polarized, and disinterested in the politics of school and mass shootings to learn something valuable from this incident?