Kip Kinkel Reflection

After watching the documentary on Kip Kinkel, I came to the conclusion that they were many factors that contribute to Kip’s mental illness and the tragedy that took place at Thurston High School. The first factor that I think contribute to Kip’s mental illness was the way that Kip’s parents raised him and his sister. According to the video, Kip’s parents always thought that both of their children were going to succeed. Yet, they were always comparing both siblings at different tasks, and in my opinion, I think that is what made Kip feel like he was never good enough in compare to his sister. One perfect example is found in one of the family videos, were we are able to see how Kip’s dad encourages Kristin to do here cartwheels and hand stands. However, when is time for Kip to do his cartwheels and hand stands, we see that his dad does not give him the same encouragement that he gives Kristin, and instead he tells Kip that he needs to work more on them. The therapist notes, also gave me an inside on the relationship that Kip had with his parents, as he reported to the psychologist, that his mom view him as a good kid with bad habits while his dad view him as a bad kid with bad habits. He also reported to the psychologist, that he always felt as a disappointment to his dad, because his father would always expect the worst of him, which in a way, it made him feel as if his dad never loved him for who he was.

Another factor that I think contribute to Kip’s mental illness was