If we don't learn from history, we are bound to repeat it.
Another shooting spree by a troubled young man: the second in as many weeks. While both Robert Hawkins, 19 and Matthew Murray, 24 shared similarities to Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, Murray actually quoted the boys in internet posts before shooting several people in Colorado this past Sunday. And just 8 months ago, Seung-Hui Cho wrecked havoc on the innocent students of Virginia Tech.
When news first broke of Robert Hawkins’ murders in Omaha, I was sitting at a bar with my aunt. The details we saw on the TV above us were still sketchy, but we turned to each other, both guessing it was a young man under 30. How tragic is it that we guessed that so easily? Why are we as a society continuing to ignore the warning signs in our troubled youth? Why is it still so easy for emotionally disturbed people to get guns? Why do so many people not care enough to do something to stop people that are obviously on a path to destruction?
A former acquaintance of Murray told CNN that Murray scared fellow workers and complained of voices in his head; he was obviously disturbed. The man said when he heard of the shootings, he turned to his wife and guessed correctly that Murray was the perpetrator.
I’m sure there were many people, who knew all these young men, who were not surprised to hear they had committed horrible acts of violence. So why, if you’re not surprised, couldn’t you have guessed it was coming and done something to prevent it? Why don’t we do more to help those in need?
As I said before, I’ve worked at group homes/shelters for disturbed and abused children/teens. Those kids were watched 24 hours a day and given proper medical treatment. And yet what happens when they turn 18? When they can do the most harm to themselves and others? Barely a thing. Why do people stop caring?
I can just hear people saying things like, “he wasn’t my problem, I wasn’t his parent” or “the schools should have done more.” How would they feel if they had to use that excuse in the face of the victim’s families? How do you say to a mother who lost her child at Columbine High School, “I’m sorry I didn’t do more to help your daughter, but it wasn’t my problem.” How can people not see that sometimes the people closest to kids are letting them down and others need to step in?
WHY AREN’T WE DOING MORE TO STOP THIS?!?!?
posted by Shannonymous @ 11:07 AM
4 Comments:
We aren't doing more cause we can't be bothered to do anything about mental health care in this country.
I know... why not?!?! Do you think it's because the government doesn't want to acknowledge it? Is it because we just don't understand it or are we ashamed of our mentally ill?
You two have got to be kidding me. Mental health is a billion dollar a year industry in this
country.
Kids are popping all sorts of anti-depressants every day.
For some it's not even neccesary.
If some kid goes out and murders a
bunch of innocent people, the
blame lies solely with the parents. Not with "we" as listy-loo puts it.
Who is this "we" anyway? You got
a mouse in your pocket?
Yeah, millions of kids are on anti-depressants, but not always the ones who need to be. And even medication won’t do the job if it isn’t coupled with the proper therapy and support from loved ones. Any quack can write a prescription and charge someone hundreds of dollars to make “mental health. . .a billion dollar a year industry.” That doesn’t mean there aren’t THOUSANDS of people in this country who AREN’T GETTING THE HELP THEY NEED BECAUSE NO ONE CARES ENOUGH TO MAKE SURE THEY GET IT!!!
And I’m sorry, but you’re idea to leave the fate of disturbed individuals solely up to the parents is ludicrous!!! Sure, in a perfect, rose-colored world where every parent is a Donna Reed or a Ward Cleaver (or a Listy-Loo and a Jay-Bee) maybe that would work, but guess what, Panda, this isn’t a Nick at Nite world! Parents are screwing up all over the place, and if WE can do something to pick up the slack WE should. And by WE, Listy Loo and I mean WE as a COMMUNITY. Some of us actually care about our neighbors, our peers, and our fellow human beings and don’t just want to live in a bubble and ONLY take responsibility for what happens under our own little microscopes. Some of us want to be a WE not just individuals like you seem to suggest is acceptable. If WE were neighbors, teachers, or friends of one of those kids that went on a violent rampage (or their parents), I would not be satisfied to sit back and say, “it was all his parents’ fault.” I think that would make us pretty selfish and careless people. I would hope WE could say, “We did everything we could to help that kid; we called the police, social services, talked to the parents and tried to get him the counseling and medical treatment he needed.” WE can make a difference if we try; WE CAN STOP THIS KIND OF THING FROM HAPPENING, IF WE CARE.
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