THE DESPAIR CONTINUES UNTO THE THIRD GENERATION.

Earlier this week, an Oakland County, Michigan high school student stands accused of shooting and killing several of his classmates.  Now the investigation includes his parents.

The parents of a 15-year-old Michigan school shooting suspect were charged with involuntary manslaughter by a Michigan prosecutor on Friday.

Oakland County prosecutor Karen McDonald announced on Friday that 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley’s parents, James and Jennifer Crumbley, were facing four counts each of involuntary manslaughter. It was not immediately clear if either had an attorney.

“I have tremendous compassion and empathy for parents who have children who are struggling and at risk for whatever reason, and I am by no means saying that an active shooter situation should always result in a criminal prosecution against parents,” McDonald said during a press conference.

McDonald said that the evidence that led to the decision to charge the parents included the fact that Ethan Crumbley had been present at the time that his father purchased the weapon. The Michigan prosecutor also cited a Facebook post from his mother that his parents had bought the weapon for the teen as a Christmas present.

The prosecutor further discussed drawings made by the 15-year-old and found by a teacher on the morning of the shooting that depicted a gun pointing at words reading “the thoughts won’t stop, help me” and someone being shot twice.

The drawings, which were subsequently altered, were shown to the parents at a meeting prior to the incident, during which they were told to get their son to counseling within the next two days.

That's more system failure than I consider myself qualified, but, yes, there was a conference involving the parents, the student, and school staff the morning of the day the shooting took place. There are news sources available suggesting the youngster was "bullied," which these days involves everything from taunting to being shoved into a locker.

It's what came after that suggests that continuing despair.

Multiple school districts in the Detroit area will be closed on Thursday "out of an abundance of caution" due to threats of more violence after the Oxford High School shooting, the officials announced on Wednesday.

“Out of an abundance of caution, all BHS schools will be closed on Thursday,” Bloomfield Hills School District Superintendent Pat Watson said in a statement, adding that the district is in close touch with Bloomfield Township Police over the alleged information.

"BHS and other communities across the region have received numerous reports of threats of violence circulating on social media," Watson said, adding that after-school activities were also canceled.

Another nearby school district, Holly Area Schools, also issued a notice of closure for Thursday and Friday.

Bloomfield Hills used to be an upscale suburb, the auto executives who could buy property in Troy would move to Birmingham or Bloomfield Hills upon achieving sufficiently high rank.  Holly might best be known for "Carrie Nation Days," honoring the actions of a temperance advocate who busted up a tavern, although model rails know of the Detroit Model Railroad Club located there.

Student discontent, or perhaps it's pranking, seems to be all over Oakland and part of Macomb County.

According to NBC News, other school districts in and around Detroit that will remain shut are Troy Schools, Rochester Community Schools, Brandon School District, Walled Lake Consolidated Schools, Lake Orion Community Schools, Clawson Public Schools, Warren Consolidated Schools, Hazel Park Schools, Avondale School District, West Bloomfield School District and Lamphere Schools.

That list includes exurbs as well as a number of the inner suburbs of Detroit that used to house workers at the single-level automobile factories that built up alongside the expressways.  I lose track of how many of those might have since closed.  The hard times began with the 1970s oil embargoes and the first Chrysler bailout, in the declining years of the Carter presidency, and now the children of people who might not yet have been born then might be signalling their unhappiness.