I Don’t Like Mondays

The teen years can be rough, especially when a parent is struggling with their own issues. Picture a teenager living with their father after a difficult divorce. Money was tight, school wasn’t a priority, and skipping classes became routine. Despite concerns about mental health, the father brushed them off. Instead of getting help, he handed his child a rifle for Christmas—a rifle that would later be used in a school shooting.

Although this story sounds like the shooting at Apalachee High School in Georgia this week, it actually dates back decades.

The First of Many
Sixteen-year-old Brenda Spencer didn’t fit the typical profile of a killer. Quiet, withdrawn, and dealing with the fallout of her parents’ divorce, she lived in a run-down home with her father. Her life was filled with instability—she had a history of behavioral issues and silently battled undiagnosed depression. In 1978, she was referred for mental health treatment, but her father refused to get her the needed help. That Christmas, he gave her a .22-caliber rifle as a gift.

On January 29, 1979, Brenda sat in her San Diego home, aimed the rifle at Cleveland Elementary School across the street, and opened fire. In just a few moments, she turned an ordinary Monday into a national tragedy—two adults were killed, and eight children and  a police officer, were wounded. This event marked one of the first widely reported school shootings, setting a chilling precedent for the future.

Looking for a Reason
After firing at the school, Brenda barricaded herself in her home for six tense hours. The nation was left grappling with one question: how could someone so young commit such an atrocity?

During the standoff, Gus Stevens, a reporter for the San Diego Evening Tribune, was calling neighbors to gather information about the shooting. One call was answered by none other than Brenda Spencer herself. When asked why she carried out the shooting, Brenda’s chilling response was, “I don’t like Mondays. This livens up the day. I just started shooting for the fun of it.”

This chilling explanation inspired The Boomtown Rats’ song, I Don’t Like Mondays, written by lead singer Bob Geldof shortly after the tragedy. The song immortalized her callous remark, serving as a dark reminder of how quickly an ordinary day can turn deadly.

Not Just Mondays
Since that 1979 shooting, school shootings have tragically become all too common in the U.S. Mass tragedies like Columbine in 1999, Sandy Hook in 2012, Parkland in 2018, Oxford High School in 2021, and Uvalde in 2022 have left lasting scars on the nation. Each shooting reignites calls for change, but the question remains: when will “never again” finally mean never again?

This week, yet another school shooting shattered the nation. Colt Gray, a 14-year-old student at Apalachee High School, opened fire, killing two students, two teachers, and injuring nine others. Colt’s story bears unsettling similarities to Brenda Spencer’s—parents struggling with their own issues, financial hardships, and warning signs that went unnoticed or ignored. And like Brenda, Colt received a rifle as a Christmas gift from his father.

Today, the conversation about school shootings feels stuck. We mourn the loss of life, express our outrage, and vow that it won’t happen again. But the steps needed to break the cycle remain tangled in political deadlock.

With each new shooting, it’s not just Mondays we can’t like—it’s every day that a tragedy strikes.

Happy reading,

Enjoy the weekend!

Best,
Suzanne
Suzanne Daniels, Ph.D.
AEPC President
P.O. Box 1416
Birmingham, MI 48012
Office: (248) 792-2187
Email: [email protected]