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“The [Mental] Struggle is Real :
A Reflection on School Shootings and their
Connection to Mental Health
Everyday, somebody in America
is losing their mind. Mention the words
Aurora, Columbine, or Sandy Hook,
and everyone thinks of the mass
murders that transpired in those places.
But how many of us turn a blind eye
towards our fellow Spelmanite or
Atlanta University Center neighbors
when they say, “I can’t take this
anymore”, only to look on in shock
when they hear about another school
shooting or act of senseless gun
violence? When was the last time you
really listened to your friends when they
were stressed out? No, not everyone
is at risk for being the next mass
murderer, but it shouldn’t take an act of
violence to take notice.
Mental illness is running rampant in
our country, and many people are not
seeing the signs such as depression
and suicidal notions. According to
Curiosity.com, a website sponsored by
Discovery Communications, depression
of some form affects an estimated “121
million people worldwide, but less than
25 percent have access to effective
treatment.” Women also have a higher
likelihood of depression than men.
World of Psychology also reports
that “one out of every five young
people and one out of every four
college students or adults [suffer]
from some form of diagnosable mental
illness”.
If someone were to only follow
the televised coverage of the recent
years’ shootings, they would guess
that the most dangerous or deadliest
perpetrators are young, Caucasian
By: Jamyla Blackmon C2015
males seeking revenge, releasing
terror and anger, and/or expecting
infamy. While CNN, FOX, and CBS
cover acts of senseless violence, they
only seem to capture certain types of
killers, leaving America to feed upon
the stereotype of the white male with
mental issues. No one would think
about a black female doing anything
like that. This is wrong: it could be
anyone.
Men and women, black, Latino,
Asian, commit these crimes, but when
it comes to national news, death toll
and the damage done weigh in more,
and those that have lost one compared
to the 20 first graders that died at
Sandy Hook can only get so much
coverage.
In a Psychology Today article,
Dr. Peter Langman, author of Why
Kids Kill: Inside the Minds of School
Shooters recounts female perpetrators
like Brenda Spencer, age 16, who
committed a sniper attack at Cleveland
Elementary School in San Diego, as
well as 23-year-old Latina Williams, an
African-American woman who killed
two female students in their college
classroom in Louisiana before she
committed suicide.
The victims of these crimes did not
get national coverage for long. Perhaps
because according to the FBI, their
shock value is to low. According to the
FBI, these aforementioned shootings
are not mass murder-they’re two
people short. Four or more people,
not including the shooter, must die in
a single incident for it to be classified
as a mass murder. There is currently
no active FBI definition for a mass
shooting.
With the many mass shootings
that appear (or not) on the radar,
regardless of race or gender, the
definite question on everyone’s mind
is, “why?” As of right now, no one
knows for sure. Research has focused
on the neuroscience behind it, while
society continues to blindside what’s
really happening to our country,
particularly our youth. Neil S. Kaye, an
assistant professor of psychiatry and
human behavior at Thomas Jefferson
University in Philadelphia, says “mass
killers do this for multiple reasons,
and even when you develop a profile
of people at risk, 99 percent of them
never go out and do anything bad.”
Blame chemical imbalances in the
brain, bullying, and bad break-ups for
the mass shootings, but there has to
be more to it all. It could be as simple
as lack of someone to talk to, or the
inability for someone to handle his or
her emotions. More than ever, love,
compassion, and respect for other
people matters in the world. So the
next time you see on the television
screen yet another coverage on school
shootings, don’t jump to conclusions.
Don’t believe the stereotype of mass
murderers always being young white
men. When you hear something in you
and your friend’s conversation, don’t
ignore them: truly listen to them. As we
all say, “The struggle is real.”
Let’s not let it evolve into the
loss of life.
The BluePrint
SpelmanPaper@gmail.com Feb/March 2014
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