In the Bowling for Columbine documentary, very little was said about the mental health of the various gunmen in these massacres. America has a very negative stigma about mental illnesses. If one were to look closely at the shootings that have made national headlines, to look beyond the fact that these people had guns in the first place, to look beyond the minute to minute details of the shooting, an ability to see the mind of the gunman is most crucial. The two shootings that were discussed in detail were the shootings Columbine and Flint, Michigan and it is clear that those that committed these horrible acts had poor mental health. Interviews in the documentary confirmed the state that these two teens and one boy were in were not healthy.
I feel very strongly about these issues. The political figures that are at the center of this nation wide debate will never be able to please the whole country, but a reasonable approach to gun control will be indirectly, through mental health. Though, this will not be considered 'gun control', it will be 'unnecessary deaths of innocent people control'.
I feel very strongly about these issues. The political figures that are at the center of this nation wide debate will never be able to please the whole country, but a reasonable approach to gun control will be indirectly, through mental health. Though, this will not be considered 'gun control', it will be 'unnecessary deaths of innocent people control'.
Hey Maddie!! I agree that mental health has a lot to do with the causes of school shootings. I also noticed that the documentary barely talked about mental health, which I found surprising. I believe that mental health is an issue that sound be talked about more when considering changing policies such as the gun control policy.
ReplyDeleteIn the documentary, Michael Moore opened that bank account for a free gun. They said they ran a background check. You would think that all gun sellers would run thorough background checks to make sure people with mental instabilities don't have access to guns. There are many different types of mental illnesses, which would ultimately reduce the number of people owning guns. This would definitely not be a bad thing for our country.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I generally disagree with guns, I agree with you that guns should still be allowed for sport.
Hello my favorite cousin :) I really liked how at the end of your blog you said that it isn't "gun control" but instead it is "unnecessary deaths of innocent people control." I never thought of it like that and it makes a lot of sense because we could never fully control guns, but we can try to diminish the losses of innocent lives by guns. I also agree with you that people that want a gun should have to pass a mental health test before getting their hands on one.
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ReplyDeleteWhen speaking of gun violence and especially mass shootings like at Columbine, mental illness is an important cause. Those two boys who murdered kids at Columbine were obviously mentally disturbed because they committed suicide in the end. I didn't even realize that Michael Moore hardly said anything about mental illness, but you are completely right--we must dive deeper into this phenomenon! My question to you is since the United States has more gun related deaths than any other country, do we also have the most mental illness?
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU MADDIE! This is what disappointed me about the documentary. In my Persuasive Speech last year in English 10, I went into detail about the mental health about the shooters. For instance, the Columbine shooters, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, were suicidally depressed and psychopathic, respectively. The Virginia Tech shooter, Cho Seung-Hui, was psychotic. It doesn't get mentioned a lot of times, but the thing is, we need to turn to this more, instead of video games and Marilyn Manson, because outside factors aren't the issue: it's the people themselves, and that's the biggest problem.
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