re: There are legitimately stupid kids out there. (Re: school shootings)

I don't remember them using the term "Contagion Effect", but there was an interesting occurrence in a Texas high school a few years ago that lends credence to this school of thought.

Something like a dozen or so girls suddenly developed a facial tick accompanied by a severe stutter when they would speak. The girls were all from the same school but were not all acquainted. Doctors first thought it was some type of nervous system disorder. They went as far as to theorize that it was caused by the presence of chemicals in the fill dirt that was used on the sports practice fields. Apparently some of the dirt was taken from the vicinity of a land fill or something.

In the end it turned out to be what they referred to as a form of "mass hysteria". It started with one girl and spread to the rest. A young mind is a very mold-able thing. That's why the military likes to recruit 18 year olds.