Pretty freaking intense, at least in Spain. The only major difference I saw with US high school kids was that passing all of your classes was a major concern for most kids, so you had that much less energy to bug your parents about a motorcycle and chase girls. Other than that, same thing.
Really, guys, all this national soul searching is ridiculous. Some problems have very simple solutions. This is one of them. Ban guns, tell the gun nuts to go fuck themselves.
>From The Economist:
--
Young people everywhere, like many of their elders, have violent
fantasies. Teaching
teenagers to curb their angry impulses is a challenge for every parent
on the planet. If America is in
moral decline, then so is most of the rest of the world, which just as
avidly consumes violent films
and rock videos. Mentally disturbed people anywhere can sometimes pose a
threat to others. And
all schools, not just those in America, remain vulnerable to someone
looking for innocent victims.
But, of all rich countries, only America makes it possible for teenage
misfits, those nursing a grudge,
the insane or anyone else determined to cause mayhem to get their hands
so easily on such a
terrifying array of weapons.
--
Right on the money.
Enrique