Dear Roger,

the picture you give about the lives of Finnish youth is quite harsh and inaccurate. Life is not black and white. Though there are difficulties in life and life in families is not anymore as communal as it used to be, it doesn't mean that people suffer. Despite, the killer lived in a family wíth both parents. I think our lives are happy. What do you expect our lives to be?

We all are not "lost children".

In the world there are many kind of cultures. You do not understand Finnish culture because you don't live inside the culture. We are different compared to British for instance and our ways of communication are unique. Please don't judge different ways of living. Respect.

Finnish educational system is the envy of the world. How is it possible for us to teach and learn if we can't communicate?

Jarno O., Tampere, Finland

Gee, at least these comments prove us Finns being a touchy lot. Probably this story's hitting too close.

However I'd like to think the terrible incident in Jokela took place because of a disturbed individual rather than a sick society. Having said that, we have to remember five years ago we had a teenage suicide bomber, now a teenage high school massacre. If and when the next tragedy happens, there is already a patter to be seen.

Arno, Helsinki,

Dear Roger,

It is fascinating to read your articles about Finland. Its almost poetry! Who is this guy?

You claim to have lived here, even claim to have written some of your articles on the spot. It makes me wonder. You mention Bertolt Brecht as one of your sources of information on Finnish culture? You know, he did die some 50 years ago. Soviet Union and Berlin wall have collapsed since and some other minor developments such as central heating, computers and online shopping have grown popular.

If you live in Finland do go to the nearest library. There you will find, free of charge, internet connections and, compared to Brecht, up to date information of our country (or any other country for that matter), plus highly educated librarians who will be pleased to guide you in English.

Or then again - if you are not that keen on knowing the facts, just leave it! Your text makes a wonderful reading. Its misplaced among the News section of course but perhaps you could get that fixed.

Eeva, Vihti, Finland

Dear Mr Boyes,

I read Your article a couple of times yesterday, had a little cry and read it again. I have just re-located to England from the beautiful, peaceful country of Finland.

After I had read Your article one last time I went out for a pint in a pub, in about 22.30 in the evening. The pub was far from quiet and I was stunned to find a little baby there. This incident made me miss my precious country even more - all my countrymen will understand why.

All societies have defects - so even Finland, I think the whole nation realised this before the Times published Your research. This individual had good prospects, and even afterwards there are persons calling themselves FRIENDS of Pekka. Your facts should not be applied on this case - in fact the information in Your article should have been checked before published.

You have insulted my nation Mr Boyes.I will never touch the Times again, and hope that the Daily Telegraph doesn´t disappoint me like this. haleja Suomeen

Linda, Kent, UK

On the other hand Heikki Andrell. Some of the kids in Finland do feel stronger, and more sure of themselves with this sort of lifestyle of stoicism and silence. We learn to cope with problems the tough way: "kantapaan kautta." Yeah it can be a problem.
But it's who we are as a people, stoic, calm, calculating, this produces 2 types of people: Those who are strong and those who close on themselves. No, I don't think it's the society I blame the internet.

Lemme put that again: I blame YouTube, Chatting and so on and so forth! Instead of growing WITH the society kids grow ON the society! This means they channel their frustation on the internet, showing kids at school that they don't care to socialize, I've been there and I know what this shooter must've felt. He was a victim too.. No one understood him and his worldview was distorted.

Without YouTube, would he have been so corageous in real life to idolize Hitler and killing.

Would he have been influenced by people who do this?

Mikael Koivukangas, Minnetonka, MN

Sry it takes 2 posts.
Kirsi: America #1 gun industry? True
America #1 Gun Distributor? False and anyway Finland's adult population has been thro military = more guns
I still stress the internet community, people who are unable to show their feelings in real life, do so in the internet. Result is that they show their extreme side.. If a kid grows up in this does not feel the same things everyone else does.. Its a pity you forgot the YouTube part of this shooter =/ Columbine shooter also had videos of him with guns.. w/o internet had this happened? Doubtful =/

Dear Antti&Olli, it is a fact that when there's alot of divorces, there's also a chance of many children living between 2 parents and who have step parents.. Would you be comfortable with that? What does that teach children?
That "Love is a great thing if you find it, but aslong as you dont there's divorce so keep trying"? I know what it feels like to have parents break up, it's alot of pain.. And some feel more than others

Mikael Koivukangas, Minnetonka, MN

Very inaccurately written about Finland and the people here. Maybe The Times should employ local reporters to report on the issuses in a specific country, rather than travelling there and googling some aphorisms from a German poet.

Write for Lonely Planet and not a hard issues like this.

Aleksi Ranta

Aleksi ranta, tampere, Finland

The only view of mine that has suffered a blow here is not my view of Finnish society, but my view of The Times as a quality newspaper. This kind of populistic drivel belongs in xenophobic blogs written by people who cannot spell properly. Not in The Times.

Anna, Helsinki, Finland

Mr. Boyes, please stop writing rubbish about Finland. It doesn't make us Finns feeling any better. I'm really sad The Times publishes these Mr. Boyes' opinions and "facts" about this grieving nation.

Niina, Espoo, Finland

There is a saying here that to be born in Finland is like winning the lottery. I think this smug attitude permeates our thinking when we hear any criticism of our country. We take everything totally seriously to the point of having earned a reputation for being naive and utterly unable to laugh about ourselves. Sadly there is now little to laugh about but instead of attacking this article in typical force we should think what is wrong with our society.

If some have taken exception with the idea that we clam up stoically and surround ourselves with a wall of silence, I want to take one example: Traveling by bus, tram, train or tube in Helsinki offers a good insight into our culture: everyone prefers to sit alone, carefully avoiding having to sit next to anyone and except for the chatter on mobile phones, no one ever talks to strangers. If so, the speaker is either very old, very drunk or just plain mad.

This kind of culture is a perfect breeding ground for social disorders.

Heikki Andrell, Helsinki, Finland

I think the following quote from one of the witnesses of this horrible tragedy says something about the values of Finnish society.

“I’m going to spend the night in the church again,” said Kati, 16, who saw a pile of bodies in the corridor of her school on Wednesday. ... “I want to be with the others, not with my parents.”

On one hand it proves Mr Boyles' earlier comments, about friendships here being only virtual, wrong but on the other hand it says that families are not very close knit. The children seem to be left alone to an extent that at a time like this, they can't find consolation and security in the people that should be closest to them, their own parents and family.

As a Finn I agree with Mr Boyles' "analysis" of the Finnish society and life in Finland. Of course it's generalizing but can you really write anything without doing so to some extent and any intelligent reader should understand that.

Hanna, Vantaa, Finland

This article was noteworthy until this following paragraph:

"Jokela is a remote dormitory suburb, full of broken marriages (Finland has the third-worst divorce rate in Europe after Belgium and Sweden); a commuter culture where fathers rarely see their children and where communal dinners are a thing of the past. The centre is a handful of scruffy shops, a pizza delivery service, a bus stop."

What do these broken marriages have to do with the incident?

Well, one can say or write whatever he or she wants.

Olli, Helsinki, Finland

"...Unemployment, concealed by any number of job-creation schemes, is high. So young small-town Finns are increasingly withdrawing into a shell, putting off having children of their own, drifting between short-term contracts. ..."

Come on! Isn't this the case in a great majority of Western countries? This is the age of the so-called 'global economy', which is 'very' liberal and very inhumane. Demografically small countries are the first ones to be shattered under the overwhelming influences of this new world order.

Please, let us not categorize a particular nation or a country with superficial and cliché attributions. Let us wake up and face the 'global reality', which is too huge for individuals to grasp and to come into terms with.

Iris Kobek, Turku, Finland

Finland IS a word-shy nation, like Mr. Boyes rightly says. I think that's partly because we haven't had this sort of "eye-opener" until now - everyone knows the Finnish youth is not feeling well emotionally, but still the Government has decided to cut the support from mental health sector. Now is as good time as any to discuss about what should be done and what can be done, because, quite frankly, something needs to be done!

Anniina Sohkanen, Bristol, UK

Lies, damned lies and statistics.

How can you see that a high divorce rate is a source of unhappiness? To a Scandinavian, it tells that both sexes are economically and socially independent, and they feel free to seek their happiness away from a misjudged relationship.

Would you be more happy divorced or being forced into a broken marriage for social standards (i.e. religion) or economical reasons?

Unfortunately, many of your conclusions seem to deviate from a Finnish perspective in the same way. I hope in another 30 years, you'll get to dig deeper into Finnish mentality.

With all respect,

Antti, Helsinki, Finland

There is now Facebook group called "Roger Boyes Fan Club". It's dedicated to all who find these articles of Roger Boyes somewhat misleading and inaccurate. Already over 100 members. :)

Tuomas, Joensuu, Finland

Why are you people complaining about the way this man has written this article? He isn't the one who murdered 9 people, in a school in a Finnish suburb.
Pointing fingers at the US is great fun, and lets be honest, the Americans have a responsibility for a lot of what is wrong with the world. However it doesn't excuse the fact that this young man could aquire a gun, walk into a school and shoot his classmates and teachers. Even if it is an extreme case, this is still what happened, and rather than picking holes about the facts of employment quoted here (which may be wrong, I don't know), maybe you should be asking what Finland can do to protect its citizens from this happening again?

Tom Bettley, Leeds,

I really am surprised that they even let Mr Boyes to write another article concerning this issue. "Yet in that sense he was not so unusual in a small-town community where teenagers feel excluded from everyday life." This example was an awful generalization from Boyes, and how about the included joke by Brecht? Joke! in an article that describes such a devastating event. How can he lack discretion this much? and what really was the point of describing the centre of Jokela? Just to inform Boyes, Kauniainen (the town that holds the reputation of being the home of a good amount of the wealthiest people in this country) has a centre much like the one described. Can someone explain the relevancy of that description in the article? If he truly is in Finland at the moment, I'd love to have a few words with him.

Maaria, Espoo, Finland

"For now, the surviving children are simply blaming the killer rather than society." - why should anyone blaim the society? For providing a superb educational system maybe?

Tuuli, London,

Roger Boyes was accurate enough with his brief description of the Finnish society and it's main problems today. Even though Finland is wealthier than ever before, health services and social services are worse off than in the 80's. Resources remain the same as in the 90's recession, even though financies to improve services are there. Efficiency and profit is the name of the game at the moment - globally. This is what causes problems with all humans from adults to children.

I have also lived in Britain - for ten years. In this time my experiences with national healthcare system was far better in all ways (in 1990's) than my experiences of healthcare in Finland now. This is entirely due to lack of funding and profit based approach.

Finland is not a placid place - we have an extreme problem with alcoholism and alcohol related violence. With disfunctional mental health system the results can only be disastrious.

Iina, Helsinki, Finland

Roger, you have written a fine text in the old article writing tradition (the 'core idea' is clear and wrapped up neatly into a puchline in the end), yet, that's no excuse for basing the article mainly on exaggerations and cliches.

Claims like "the Finns gained the gift of tongues yesterday" or the quote reported as said by 'Jenni' ring so false that I conclude like others here that your contacts to the Finns have been limited if not nonexistant. There has been nearly as horrible catastrophes in this corner of the world in the late years, eg. the Myyrmanni Bomb incident in 2002 and the tsunami in the east Asia in 2004. The reactions to both of them was public and private emotion, compassion and rambling discussions, much like now. The last incident of 'stiff upper lip grieving' I remember was the funeral of president Kekkonen in the 80's. Many of us Finns have Karelian roots and they are known for showing their emotions easily. Them, or many others, can not be said to be 'stoic'.

PO, Helsinki,

This sadness is deep. Deeper than an ocean, but finally I´ll find hidden humanity.

Harto, Espoo, Suomi

Just by reading this story and all the inaccuracies, i can only presume the reporter has only been in Finland for a couple of days and read some old newspaper stories from the 80's.

Tim, Jonkoping, Sweden

Mr. Boyes,

Nokia only employs 28000? My old hometown has 9000 people! And so many cliches from the early 90's. Tsk tsk, Word-shy nation... No, are you really in Finland or you've just googled it? Because I have never heard the term of "New Economy" used in Finland. Especially by someone in their 50s. Makes me wonder...

Timo Ahlstedt, Espoo, Finland

Comparing Finnish way of life and Brittish way of life nowdays, there are not big differencies there. I have lived in both countries and there are equily problems in suburbs, broken marriages etc.

In Finland we do have high education level, great passion to do thing right and it is very safe to live in Finland, comparing to for example drug problem in UK. I was attaced few times there, never had happened in Finland.

This kind of case just show the extreme side, which comes from internet sociaties that gathers same thinking people together and can create this kind of horror.

Three things; Media (mainly comes from US), gun industry (which is in US hands) and social life (which could be better in Finland) are the main things to point finger at.

Kirsi, Helsinki, Finland

Dear Roger,

Your knowledge of Finland seems to be good and famous like English kitchen!

Be careful maybe Hamilton will do the same in UK ;p

-Jukka

Jukka, Manila, Philippines