05-26-2022, 06:28 PM
(05-26-2022, 07:16 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: What we really need is an effort to improve mental health care. We need to reduce the coverage these events have and stop making these shooters famous. We need to work on reducing our country's infatuation with violence that is due in part to the stranglehold the military industrial complex has on us.
What you propose solves nothing. It is just as bad as people clamoring for gun control in the wake of these shootings as it doesn't focus on the actual problems. The problem isn't security, the problem isn't access to firearms. The problem is that we have people that feel disconnected to society, feel they have nowhere else to turn, and feel like this is a valid solution to those feelings.
Since this shooting I have had a lot of folks my age talking about coming of age during the era of Columbine and the years following. How school shootings have increased in those years. They have, it isn't just the result of media coverage blowing it out of proportion or anything. But connect it to other things in this country. We talk about our political divisions. Also social groups have been on a huge decline since then. Our society is becoming disconnected from each other.
We all know I am involved in the Boy Scouts of America. I'm also a member of the Sons of the American Revolution and am currently working on joining the local Freemasons. I also chat with a lot of BPOE members as we use the local Elks lodge for Scout meetings. All of these organizations are dying because people don't value that in-person connection anymore. Houses of worship are in the same boat. Volunteerism is way down. All of these things are connected. We are losing a sense of community and that is increasing a mental health crisis because people feel more isolated. People in that situation are more likely to do this sort of thing. They don't have that sense of community. Would it stop them altogether? No, we had these before the decline of our communities. But they certainly weren't as frequent.
Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox.
I disagree. Tighter and more aggressive security is a stopgap with a tangible and clear deterrent. School shootings occur in part because the disconnected people you mention see schools as an easy target that will have a major impact on the community and even the country if they succeed. Nobody will ignore the act, whether or not it causes a change on laws or debate.
If a potential killer knows it's going to be harder to achieve his desired outcome, then they'll quite possibly, maybe even likely seek a different target. Do they frequently target big banks, government buildings or police stations when they're trying to lash out? I'm not saying it never happens, but the reasons are almost always different when it does. Schools are still largely a soft target for people wanting to inflict terror. They need to become a hard target.
What you propose isn't a bad idea, but the toothpaste is a little far from the tube to put the brakes on our country's declining mental health. I question it's effectiveness outright when it comes to severely damaged individuals. Seeing a professional is voluntary either way, and a lot of the people doing the killing aren't from backgrounds that would even be considering sending their kids to a shrink if they weren't forced to. Adam Lanza was more than a bit off, likely schizophrenic and his parents never sought professional help. The at-risk individuals have to utilize the resource before it can be effective.
