This picture was filled with information about the young man’s state of mind, his stresses, his thought process, his intentions and his plan of action. The investigator who can interpret this information can take action to prevent tragedy.
The teacher who saw this picture was moved to action because she was given the information before she saw the picture to understand it had important meaning and she took action. In fact, she told me that if she had not had the training and understanding about what drawings can tell us, she might have just taken it and ripped it up, advising the boy not to draw such ugly things anymore.
What else was this drawing besides an expression of pain by the young man who drew it? It was also a kill list, it said so in the title. It told us so because specific people were targeted (His project) even if not named by their real names. It showed us the progression of his thoughts and actions.
For an epilogue, I can say that he did have access to guns, and he told me that he was going to act on it sooner rather than later. When pushed he said “maybe two weeks”
The young man was removed from the school that very day for psychological evaluation. His parents were not aware of his feelings or intentions or his suicidal ideations, they were shocked. He did not return to the school, but reports I’ve gotten indicate he is doing very well; he no longer has a desire to hurt anyone including himself. He got the psychiatric help he needed and in the 10 years since he drew this picture and harbored thoughts of homicide and self-destruction he has thrived. Education and observation saved his life and his classmates as well.
First-Person
While the young man in this first example drew in first-person and the drawing was about him and his plans, my second example is a bit different, but just as important for police investigators and school personnel.
A short time after I received the first picture, a different teacher in another district sent me another drawing of concern. She also attended one of my training sessions on the topic of interpreting drawings.
This teacher said she saw a young man, high school sophomore, drawing in his notebook and the picture scared her. She took the picture and sent me a photo of it. I responded to the school and met with the student and the principal.
Here is the second drawing:
This drawing depicts a young man with an ax attacking the Kool Aid Guy. The Kool Aid guy is injured, he is bleeding out, and his face shows fear, distress and pain and he says, “Oh No!”. The young man depicted appears to be smiling.
You can see why the teacher was concerned. It is a violent picture.
When I interviewed this young man, he said he drew the picture. When asked what was happening to the Kool Aid guy he said, “That guy is annoying, he breaks through walls yelling ‘Oh Yeah!’ so somebody got sick of it and shut him up.”
I asked him if he was the person with the ax attacking the Kool Aid guy.
The young man smiled and said, “No, man, that’s not me. That’s just some dude who’s sick of his nonsense”
After some other conversation and review of the young man’s history, it was clear that this picture, which is disturbing, was not a threat to anyone veiled or otherwise, it was simply a cartoon.
This drawing was not in the first-person, the attacker was not even the drawer, and the injury was not to a person but to a real cartoon character. The attacker was smiling. A cartoon in poor taste, yes, but not a threat.
I spoke to the teacher and thanked her for sending it to me and for paying attention to signs of potential violence. The takeaway here is similar to the first teacher, with information and knowledge we can get people to report potential problems or threats so we can act.
Journaling, Writing and Social Media Posts
Journaling and writing can also be expressions of our inner thoughts, concerns, angers and joys. Many people of all ages journal to keep a record of their lives or activities. What we look at with young people is the time and place of journaling and writing, the topics and the action that takes place in the writings.
As anyone who deals with children as they grow and mature, we know that they can experience the world in different ways at different ages. Little children can draw things that are scary to them. We know that some abused children will draw horrific pictures of the abuse or how it feels to them. These pictures are often the only way they can express these feelings, since writing might not be a mastered skill yet.
When an investigator or teacher sees these kinds of pictures, they will often set off alarm bells and initiate some kind of an investigation by school personnel, doctors, parents or guardians. This is appropriate because it is information that tells us something is not right.
In little children, drawing a picture of abuse or of sexual organs at ages under 8 or 9 is not the normal thing of childhood. Of course, there can be legitimate reasons that some kids might draw those things and not be victims, but we would investigate none the less because it is out of the ordinary expectations of what young children are experiencing in a normal healthy life experience and it would draw our suspicions.
We also know that around the age of middle school, 11-15 or so, a young person’s understanding of the world around them begins to change and expand. This change comes from heightened awareness of the world around them, increased intelligence, exposure to TV, social media and other outside stimuli of the adult world.
At this age, a young person can understand that family members and friends get sick or die for many reasons, including the modern phenomenon of teen suicide which is on the increase.
