Would Eric and Dylan's parents have been able to talk them out peacefully?

I have thought about this many times. Just say E&D hadn't killed themselves so early into the incident. What if they had barricaded themselves into the library ( i know that wasn't part of the plan ) Just say E&D decided they didn't want to die. The final time they returned to the library and walked around each desk and looked at all the dead bodies. Just say they became disgusted with themselves because they had murdered little girls , little girls who had begged for their lives ,little girls that WERE NOT A THREAT to them. Boys and girls that had parents ,brothers and sisters and friends. Barricaded in the library gave E&D time to think ,time to reflect and time to cool down. Once all that pent up rage and madness had diminished and returned them back into the innocent boys they once were. They both position themselves away from the windows and out of sight of the police snipers. They both cried and couldn't believe what they had become. At that moment ,they weren't child killers ,mass murderers and spree killers. They were kids ,just kids. A police negotiator arrives and E&D's parents too. The library phone rings and Eric picks up and can hear his mum screaming and waling and totally in hysterics. Eric has NEVER heard his mum in such a frenzied panic before. Of course not because he has never killed before. His mum has never spoken to this stranger on the phone before. Eric her child ,a mass murderer. We know that E claimed " I WISH I WAS A FU!*ING SOCIOPATH SO I DIDN'T HAVE ANY REMORSE ,BUT I DO. THIS IS GOING TO TEAR THEM APART. THEY WILL NEVER FORGET IT!.". If he heard his mum " torn apart " on the phone ,would that have made a difference at the end? Dylan on the B tapes just says a quick apology and goodbye. He doesn't appear to be half as sentimental and sorry as Eric. How would Dylan react upon receiving a phone call from his mum? How would Dylan feel if he picked up the library phone and heard his mums voice and it was almost like a foreign language? An unrecognizable voice of pain and void of understanding. A voice Dylan had never heard before ,the voice of a mother attempting to reach her murderous son. I think Dylan would have put the phone down and committed suicide. I am not sure about Eric.. What do you think about it?

rik75 wrote:

I think Dylan would have put the phone down and committed suicide. I am not sure about Eric.. What do you think about it?

I agree about the thing with Dylan. Not sure what to write about the other things.

I honestly think that there was nothing that could've held them back or swayed them the moment they set foot on school grounds that day. I don't think there was space in their heads for disgust at themselves. I don't think they had any regrets, although I want to bet that the lack of the bombs got to them just a bit. I don't think that they would have been able to return to a childlike state of innocence after doing what they did. I don't think they had the time or the emotional capacity for anything of the sort. I think they both wanted to die that day. They were never going to come out of that school alive. They would not have spoken with their parents or anyone else trying to speak with them. It wasn't a negotiation situation at all.

thedragonrampant wrote:

I honestly think that there was nothing that could've held them back or swayed them the moment they set foot on school grounds that day. I don't think there was space in their heads for disgust at themselves. I don't think they had any regrets, although I want to bet that the lack of the bombs got to them just a bit. I don't think that they would have been able to return to a childlike state of innocence after doing what they did. I don't think they had the time or the emotional capacity for anything of the sort. I think they both wanted to die that day. They were never going to come out of that school alive. They would not have spoken with their parents or anyone else trying to speak with them. It wasn't a negotiation situation at all.

Agree with thedragonrampant. Although they potentially could have stopped up until the first shot was fired, I believe it was too late. As far as speaking with their parents (or anyone else), I don't think they would have. Further, with there being two of them, if they had been willing to speak to their parents and one of them had started to crack, the other would have quickly interfered. Oddly enough, I see Eric as the one who might have broken if he had spoken to his dad and Dylan being the one to stop it by shooting the phone or something.

I guess that there was no going back. Eric and Dylan wouldn't have given up to the police or their parent's. A whole life term of imprisonment wasn't part of the plan and it certainly wasn't an option for them. They both planned their suicides and they carried it out. If only Eric and Dylan had got what they needed. They needed serious mental health help. A pack of tablets wasn't what Eric needed. He should have received regular counselling and regular mental health assessments. Dylan should have received that kind of help and treatment too. If only they had been reached and aided before NBK had even been a mere thought in the back of their minds. They could have been able change their lives and for the better. Family support ,regular mental health counselling ,regular mental health assessments and appropriate medication could have shaped their mindsets differently. They could have turned into good ,decent and law abiding men. IF ONLY..

rik75 wrote:

A pack of tablets wasn't what Eric needed. He should have received regular counseling and regular mental health assessments.

Eric did go to counseling. If memory serves me right, Mr Harris wrote in his notebook different counselors that they were looking into.
Therapy only works if you want to be there and Eric could obviously spin quite a web to get out of it. Although we have no idea what he actually talked about with his therapist. There's no quick fix for these things and it would have taken time that (in their minds at least) they just didn't have.