Im sad there was yet another school shooting, and Im sad that everyone again is saying we have a gun problem. We have a mental health crisis in our country, with people exhibiting all sorts of signs that others are not picking up on, and that some people hide really well. If someone is that distraught, they will find a way to carry out something, even if they make something homemade off directions on the internet, or use a hatchet (like we saw recently). I was sad to see the news reporters saying, What sort of family would give a 14 year old a rifle for his birthday? I was thinking, What sort of kid living in our area who has taken hunter safety and has gone out hunting all the time with parents wouldnt be thrilled to get that as a gift? Tons of kids in Wisconsin in rural communities have a rifle at home, and not because we are bad parents, but because we work with our children from the time they are young to understand safety, and learn respect for each other and for the animals we take to feed us with those rifles. I hear those safety phrases in my head STILL from my dad when I was learning as a teenager, and my kids jokingly complain that they can hear ME in their heads every time they handle a weapon and that is what I wanted. Smart gun owners keep such guns locked up in gun safes or with trigger locks with keys in a secret location. Jumping back on the bandwagon of gun control doesnt help in cases where people bought guns legally and someone took them, or it doesnt stop all of the criminals who have obtained their guns illegally in the first place. This high school boy was deeply troubled, and like many with depression or other issues, he hid it very well. Yes, news commentators, you can be a great athlete and student and good looking and struggle with depression. Depression isnt something you CHOOSE or something that goes away if you just got good grades or won the big game. It is a chemical imbalance that affects people in many different ways. In spite of hiding, he did however post things in the days ahead of time that were huge red flags, something where his friends or family should have sat down and had a talk and gotten to the root of the issue. Someone out there KNEW he was in distress and was either unsure of what to say to him or someone else. He was apparently being tormented about something and many people knew about it. Someone in that school saw the terrible tweets about him and laughed about it, someone saw those and felt sorry for him, someone saw those tweets and retweeted and spread the bad stuff around until it was viral, but no one did anything. This is what we need to focus on. It always comes back to this....no one did anything or knew what to do, even when they felt in the gut something was wrong or different. How do we get help to all those who are struggling before that last button is pushed? How do we get more access to this in school settings? How do we make it anonymous and safe for people to alert school officials to tweets or FB posts that seem scary or ominous of something to come? So to parents, get your guns locked up, AND open up more to what is happening in the electronic world of your children and their friends. I know all too well that there is only so much we can do to help those who dont want help, but I also know we have to give it our best shot every day. If we have a call to action from our government, let it be for a substantial increase in access to mental health across the country, or incentives for people to go into that profession, or programs to help kids learn to watch for signs of depression, bullying, or anger. Tackle the problem at the source.......fix it before it ever gets to this stage of sorrow.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Oct 2014 21:06:26 +0000
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