This Online Subculture Idolizes Columbine Shooters

Earlier this month, a 13-year-old girl from Northern Kentucky took her own life after years of being bullied. Following her death, her mother discovered that she also was part of an online subculture known as the True Crime Community (TCC)—a group that idolizes the Columbine shooters. The young girl’s feelings of being left out and ostracized by her peers likely led her to the group—which experts say is a dangerous mix of hero worship and unhealthy messaging about how to cope with bullying.

Although it might be difficult for parents to comprehend, young people, especially those struggling with bullying, mental health challenges, or feelings of isolation, may identify with the Columbine shooters.

Those feelings can lead them to dangerous groups like TCC. If they are already struggling with their mental health, parents need to be vigilant that their sudden interest these groups doesn’t result in self-harm, suicide, or even attempts to emulate the shooters in real life.

Here’s what parents need to know about how dangerous online subcultures attract vulnerable teens, why kids are still drawn to the tragic story of the Columbine shooting, and how parents can keep their kids safe.

Why Kids Are Interested in Columbine?

Even though Columbine happened in the ‘90s, school shootings are still top of mind for students, says Titania Jordan, the chief parent officer for Bark Technologies, an online safety company, and author of Parental Control.

“While Columbine wasn’t the first school shooting to ever occur in America, it was the deadliest at the time and picked up graphic media coverage thanks to the 24-hour news cycle and the burgeoning internet,” says Jordan. “Dark mythology has been built around the shooters, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, that is hard to explain. Some followers of TCC believe that the two were unfairly ridiculed and bullied and that the shooting was a righteous reckoning.”

School shootings linger in the minds of teens because they are so tragically common—not only do they make frequent news headlines, but many kids have gone through an active shooter event themselves (or at least a drill) or know someone who has. That might be make stir a certain fascination with these events, or a desire to know more about causes them.

“For some, it’s a way to explore morbid curiosity, but for others, it can become a dangerous form of identification. The romanticization of the perpetrators—seeing them as anti-heroes or victims—can create a distorted view that fuels harmful ideologies,” says Jeff Wenninger, a nationally recognized law enforcement expert, retired Lieutenant, and founder of Law Enforcement Consultants.

What Is TCC All About?

TCC members indicate they are simply “true crime enthusiasts” who analyze crimes, discuss psychological motivations, and seek justice for victims, says Wenninger. “However, within this community, a subset of users idolizes violent offenders.”

Wenninger says this subset of users exchange conspiracy theories, create fan art, write letters to convicted criminals, and, in some cases, glorify the perpetrators as misunderstood figures.

“This is where the danger lies—when the focus shifts from studying crime to romanticizing those who commit it,” he says.

According to Wenninger, kids who feel alienated or powerless often seek spaces like TCC where they feel understood and validated. “The problem is that TCC offers a distorted form of belonging—one where violence is framed as a [reasonable] response to victimization,” he says.

Why Is TCC Appealing to Kids?

Kids who feel rejected, lonely, misunderstood, marginalized, socially awkward, unaccepted, unpopular, or who are victims of bullying or aggression often seek out or are even recruited by others struggling with the same issues.

For young people who feel disconnected from their immediate community, the internet can create an environment where they can communicate with others experiencing the same type of social isolation.

“Their negative thoughts, feelings, and grievances are validated—and [sometimes] encouraged—by others through shared experiences of alienation,” explains Brittany Farrar, MSSW, the executive director of Youth Villages in Nashville and a frequent collaborator with the Tennessee Office of Homeland Security and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Forces.

Many of these platforms offer private chat and group chatrooms, she says. This can create an echo chamber that reinforces unhealthy ideas with violence as a solution. Meanwhile, research suggests that people also can become interested in true crime as a way to process their lived trauma—but these communities are a far cry from the professional help most people need to properly cope with their mental health issues.

Groups like TCC give kids who are struggling a sense of community, a found family that might finally be a place where they feel accepted and understood. That might be a good thing—if this particular online subculture didn’t lionize such violent people and actions.

“If you’re already struggling with mental health challenges, simply finding a place—even an unhealthy or extreme one—where others seem to ‘get you’ can feel comforting, because it means you’re not alone,” adds Jordan. “[But] some messaging also encourages self-harm or suicide as an answer to bullying and mental struggles, which kids may accept as the only way out from their pain.”

How Do Kids Find Out About TCC?

Groups with aims similar to TCC exist across multiple platforms—YouTube, TikTok, Reddit, Discord, and dedicated message boards like Websleuths, says Wenninger.

And that poses a big problem for parents: If your kid is on all these platforms, or more skilled at navigating the internet and subsequently covering their tracks, less tech savvy parents might have trouble keeping track of where exactly their kids are spending time online.

“Algorithms on social media platforms play a huge role in exposure, too,” adds Wenninger. “A teen who watches a video on Columbine, for example, might be automatically recommended more content about the shooters, leading them down a rabbit hole of increasingly extreme material.”

They also may find the group using hashtags on platforms like TikTok, Tumblr, and YouTube. In addition to straightforward searches, Jordan says some variations may sidestep filters like using #teeceecee, which spells out TCC. Kids may also discover this content via word of mouth at school or from other online groups, she says.

And according to Farrar, it’s often not censored or even very well hidden, making it easy for curious teens to access it from anywhere there’s an internet connection.

What Kind of Messaging Is on These Sites?

Instead of being encouraged to seek healthy coping mechanisms, online subcultures may lead kids to see violent figures as role models, says Wenninger. “These communities reinforce negative emotions, making [kids] feel like the world is against them and that drastic actions are the only solution.”

Discussions, either in direct messages or on message boards, might be harmless—just two people connecting over a common interest. But there’s also a dark side where troubled individuals fuel each other’s unhealthy thoughts. The messaging varies but can include:

• Normalizing violence and revenge fantasies
• Encouraging distrust of authority figures (like parents, teachers, and police)
• Promoting the idea that society is against them
• Glorifying the idea of “going out in infamy”

“At worst, there’s a glorification of violence above all that’s very unhealthy,” adds Jordan. “There’s also deeply problematic hero worship of the Columbine shooters—as if they were heroes who were ‘standing up’ for themselves. In reality, there are conflicting accounts of their status as being bullied.”

No matter what platform they are using, kids should not be messaging with strangers, but especially not in a group like TCC. “These types of sites are spreading cynical and dark worldviews that can affect a young child’s mental health and outlook on life,” says Jordan.

How to Protect Your Kids From These Groups

None of this is going to be easy or comfortable to tackle with your kids, and no one expects well-meaning parents to have all the answers immediately—but talking about these issues with your kids is essential to keeping them safe. It’s normal to feel like its one of the most overwhelming and heartbreaking challenges of parenthood.

Caitlin Severin, LMFT, a licensed marriage and family therapist and co-founder of CultivaTeen Roots, recommends encouraging open, non-judgmental communication between you and your teen, monitor their social media use, and utilize social media controls.

Blocking certain sites on your home computer and on their cellphone is a good step, adds Jordan. For instance, you can incorporate content monitoring tools like those available through Bark. “It scans saved photos and videos, text messages, and other online activities for dozens of categories like violence, hate speech, signs of anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, and more.”

Remember, you know your kid best, she says. “If you [feel] something isn’t right in your child’s world, approach them with compassion and let them do most of the talking while you actively listen. Don’t hesitate to seek help from a pediatrician, school counselor, or mental health professional if needed.”