Ignoring the Obvious

With the mass killing tragedy which occurred earlier this week in Parkland, Florida, the issue of our modern society's inability, or unwillingness to deal with its uglier problem of mental health are at the forefront in the media today. 

While many are quick to react and assign blame on a political lack of will to enact some legislation which would only deal with the tool - firearms - being used by the person committing the crime, these "people control" measures are extremely short-sighted. It doesn't deal with the root issue. Its seems that only a few commentators on television demonstrate a more adept understanding at what are the true and more relevant underlying causes for these tragedies.

Anyone who's been walking and breathing since the Columbine shooting is all too aware of the common thread of a mental health issue contributing to each circumstance from then, to now. As a former public school teacher, I dealt with first hand, this issue in my classroom, on occasion. That experience has revealed to me that there has been an increase in several factors leading to younger generations having mental health problems.

To me there are many contributing factors which have, and are, influencing the manifestations of such individuals who commit these heinous acts. Sure, there have always been "nut jobs" amongst society, but the more recent series of school shooting incidences are what this post is focusing on.

First and foremost, as I've remarked in many different prior posts on this blog, is the negative impact on the family unit over the last several decades. I can't tell you how many more students who came through both mine and my wife's classrooms over our 30 plus year careers, have been from a single parent family where, for a wide variety of reasons, the father was and still is, not present in the home.

 If I bothered researching it, I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn what studies have revealed about how this one factor negatively impacts a child's personal self-worth and how they deal with others. I believe the absence of a father figure's influence on a child is massive significant. Then too, there is the issue of the two parents, working together as a support "team" to provide boundaries and moral guidance for the child as he/she is being raised. That, too often, is absent in a single parent home. How do I know? It became blatantly apparent from the conduct and behavior of some students in my classes, as well as my interaction with the single parent during conferencing discussions about the child's learning, or lack of it.

Second, which is another issue I've addressed in other prior posts here, is the advent of digital technology into our daily lives. The Internet, cell phones, video games, pornography, sexual deviancy, the desensitizing of violence... the list goes on and on. We've all encountered these issues in some personal way; it's so pervasive today. 

Third, the liberal notion which was implemented during the middle of my teaching career; gun free zones! The day the school district put up the sign at the entrance to my school's parking lot was the day I knew instantly that my students and my colleagues were in grave danger. If being in a workplace where one was unable to defend themselves from an armed attack, then my risk of survival just increased immensely. That truth has been born out all too much over the decades since then. It hasn't prevented loss of life as the concept behind the signs claim to make.

Until and unless we as a nation have sufficient leadership - and I believe, based on his remarks following the Parkland, Florida tragedy. we currently do - and resolve to address the actual contributing factors I've cited above, our nation will continue to have recurrences of such mindless savagery to our youth and their families. This is why, I believe, Trump's agenda of "Making America Great Again" is so critical to supporting. 

I count my blessings and am grateful that, during the time when our two daughters were going through high school nothing happened where they went. I can't imagine the grief the families of those who've lost their children in these events since Columbine have to deal with for the rest of their lives. For me, this is where religious faith has its place in working through such overwhelming grief at losing one's child. Just consider Congressman Steve Scalis's experience with being shot on the softball field last spring.

Just as I finish writing this post, reports have come in from news sources that a local community college has gone into lock down after reports from the campus that a shooter has fired shots.