With the life that kid's had, I'm not surprised. These kids have no good role models in their lives. (Not to excuse his actions because I absolutely do NOT!) But our schools are short on mentors for these kids. If you have the free time to meet with a student once a week the schools really appreciate it! I love the mentor program.
@CoopsGirl : You don't just have to be a mentor either. If you see a kid that has noone show up at events, try to take them into your family and guide them and show them what love is. One of my son's friends never had a parent or relative show up at baseball and football games. He would take off as soon as over so I didn't get to talk much with him. I would root for him like he was my own. As would my friends that were there. He noticed it, and when it was senior night, after my son had walked onto the field, he came up and asked me if I would walk with him. It both broke my heart and gave me a shot of love back. Every event after that he always came up and talked to me. He did this with a few other parents too. When he went off to college, he played for Ball State. We went to a few of his games and he always came over and said hello, no his parents never showed, but he stayed the course. His senior year as a 5'4" running back, he was the #6 draft pick for NFL at Ball State. He had worked so hard. Sadly he got a critical neck/back injury and could never play again, but he did let that stop him, returning to classes after he healed, took an extra year, but he graduated with honors. He has a great job and is doing very well. It could have gone a completely different direction if noone had shown him that someone did care.