The topic I would like to discuss in this rant is school shootings. 

First, here is some good news: the US House of Representatives has passed a bill to allow parents to be held accountable for school shootings. 

Let’s look at the six-year-old who shot his teacher. He has a unique education plan, that a parent or grandparent accompanies him to school each day, indicating his disabilities are severe. On the day of the shooting, there was no family member. The second issue is how does a six-year-old get a gun? The news reported that the mother had a trigger guard on it. There was no mention of a gun safe or somewhere a six-year-old couldn’t get it. The school system and his family failed this child. My next question is,  what does the justice system do with a six-year-old shooter? 

The shooter, Adam Lanza, was 20 years old in the Sandy Hook school shooting. He had many symptoms of anxiety, depression, and cognitive impairments. He had minimal mental health treatment. His mother was interested in shooting, had guns in the house, and took her two sons to a shooting range to learn how to shoot. First, Adam shot his mother. Then he went to the school, shot through the locked glass doors, shot adults and children then shot himself. Both the school system and the mental health system failed this young man. 

The government puts a bandaid on the gushing artery after a  school shooting. "GUN CONTROL, GUN CONTROL". Is the mantra heard around the country. Then some law is passed, tighter background checks and increased age to get a permit. This is not nearly enough with increased school shootings across the country.

First, our school system in the USA needs to be addressed. The schools from high-income areas get the most taxes to support their schools. So, low-income areas get the least taxes for their schools. We do not have equal education across the country. This is reflected in teachers’ salaries and resources. 

The mental health system also needs to be overhauled across the board. Let’s look at kids and teens. School counselors are required to address school issues. Their number is varied across the country. They also may have non-counseling tasks. Parents must be educated if mental health and behavior issues are just a phase or a problem. There continues to be a stigma attached to having a mental illness and especially getting treatment. No one wants to be labeled as "crazy."

Children’s brains are not fully developed until their late teens or early twenties. Therefore, they can not be held responsible like adults are held accountable. This is where the justice system needs to make changes.

My opinion is that it is not only gun control. It is about changing systems that no one is willing to tackle.

Now I feel better.