Mass School Shootings: The Problem is Mental Illness, Not Guns

2107 Words5 Pages

I was watching TV with my friends kids and attempting to find a movie they might enjoy. Unluckily for the children I had to pass by consecutive news channels. At first I passed by quickly through the first three channels but then I noticed the rest of the news channels that I did happen to glimpse had headlines saying school shooting. I couldn't help but watch the news for a bit to fully understand the situation. I discovered that many young children at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut had been shot and died. I was saddened because of those children and parents who had to live through that experience. Later through the week I kept watching the news for more information. The news Investigators revealed the man's name as twenty year old Adam Lanza and found out that he may have had mental health issues but apparently no one noticed or detected it. Friends and family only described him as a bright young man who was shy and kept to himself. This shooting could have happened in any school it could have even happened right here, and that's what terrifies and angers me the most. How can we improve the mental health care system so tragedies like these don't happen again? Most people are not concerned about the mental health care systems. These people don't understand the harm restricting medications can cause to the mentally ill and are too concerned with gun control to see the deeper problem. If these people knew more, however, they would realize that without the proper care the mentally ill could go out of control and that most of these people are not being correctly diagnosed. Restricting Medication can be Harmful Mental Illness explains how restricting medication from mentally ill individuals can harm them. H... ... middle of paper ... ... Joe, and Paul Barr. “Call to Action Through Tragedy.” Modern Health Care (2012). Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. Carrey, Benedict. “A Tense Compromise on Defining Disorders.” New York Times 10 Dec. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. Espejo, Roman. Mental Illness. Detroit: Green Haven Press, 2012. Print. Jacob, James B. , and Jennifer Jones. “Keeping Firearms out of the Hands of the Dangerous Mentally Ill.” The Administrative and Regulatory Law News. 37.4 (2012): 11-20. Academic Search Complete. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. Johnson, Carolyn Y. “Doctors Peer into Mental Illness.” Boston Globe 23 Nov. 2004. Newsstand. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. Peters, Jeremy W, and Michael Luo. “Mental Health Again an Issue in Gun Debate.” New York Times 18 Sept. 2013. Web. 20 Feb. 2015. Thorrey, Fuller E. The Insanity Offense. New York: W.W. Norton and Company Inc, 2008. Print.

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