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There are four things at the root of the recent scourge of school shootings, according to state Sen. Tim Kraayenbrink, R-Fort Dodge.
During an Eggs and Issues legislative forum Friday, he said those things are poor parenting, violent video games, large capacity ammunition magazines for guns and mental illness.
He was especially critical of violent video games, and singled out the "Grand Theft Auto" series.
He said there are games that give players bonus points for shooting police officers.
"I can't image that doesn't do something to the brains of these young people," he said.
He recounted a conversation with a teacher in which the teacher described a third-grader who was yawning and visibly exhausted. When asked why he was so tired, the boy replied that he had been up all night "buying hookers" in one of the "Grand Theft Auto" games, according to the senator. Kraayenbrink said the game allows players to buy hookers and get their money back if they kill them.
Mental illness is a factor in the school violence, as well, he said.
"Nobody in their right mind would do this," he said. "They have to be mentally ill somehow."
Kraayenbrink said there is a bill in the Senate that requires schools to have better plans for responding to active shooter situations.
Also during Eggs and Issues, state Rep. Mike Sexton, R-Rockwell City, said a mental health bill signed into law by Gov. Kim Reynolds on March 29 calls for placing more counselors in schools. However, he said lawmakers must still provide the money to hire those counselors.
He said the addition of those counselors would be a "huge step in the right direction."
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