Janese Johnson

It is always a shock when we hear about a young person having a gun and shooting people with it.

The recent Valentine’s Day tragedy at Northern Illinois University has now put the number of people killed or wounded in the United States at a school shooting since 1997 at a total of 256.

In the last 11 years, 38 young people from six to 25 years old have killed 38 and wounded 139 people in a school setting. This is a tragedy of serious proportions — not only for the friends and families of those who have died or been wounded, but for our whole country.

Instead of looking at the deeper problem, however, we seem merely to continue reacting to each incident with sorrow and shock. Of course, this is a natural reaction to such tragic events. But I also believe that if we can look at the overall picture of all of the events, then perhaps we can see the bigger pattern and do something more proactive in preventing any future shootings from happening.

The recent shooting in Illinois, which was done by a recent graduate, shows us that he had some kind of mental illness. The gunman, Stephen P. Kazmierczak, seemed like a well-adjusted individual until he went off his medication. After he stopped taking his meds, he showed signs of unpredictable and erratic behavior, to the point that those who knew him felt as if he were a completely different person.

There is a timeline on the Web that shows all the school shootings since 1997, which can be found at www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0777958.html. This timeline shows the seriousness of our situation. It also shows us that every one of these young people who shot at others showed strong signs of mental health issues.

Unfortunately, with the significant cuts that this administration has made to mental-health care, many states have cut their services on the state level. With few services available to those experiencing mental-health issues, plus the stigma attached to mental illness, we seem to have an increasing problem in our country.

Our juvenile-justice system has shown that it has a negative and adverse effect on young people who suffer from mental illness. But over 40 percent of the young persons it is holding — without proper treatment — have signs of mental illness.

With the cuts in mental health, and the privatization of our prison system, it appears that jails now financially profit from criminals, but not from mentally ill people; they actually lose money on someone with mental illness. This system seems like a perfect setup for greed and corruption, and not for the well-being of those who have serious problems that need to be addressed in the proper medical way. If they had diabetes, then there is no doubt that they would be getting the medication and help that they need.

I have also heard people using arguments about needing better gun control and using greater security to protect our children from harm. Once again that seems to be looking at the surface level, and not going a little deeper to the real cause. What will happen to our life if we keep putting more rules and regulations on everything, only to find out that we still have a problem? The real solution seems to be to look a little deeper and see that the causes of these tragedies are due to mental-health issues. Since that appears to be the case, it seems truly crazy for our government to be cutting the funding on mental-health services, and giving more money to private prisons.

Those who suffer from mental illness often refuse or are unable to ask for what they need. They need us to bring in more awareness to the community in order to break down the stigma that binds their life to misery. They need us to stand up and advocate for the importance of services in the community. And they need us to be there for them — without judgement — to help them get the services that they need.

With the stigma gone, then many will feel a little better asking for help. This change must be made by all of us, not just the government. Our children and their future depend on our voices. Let’s stop this tragedy from happening again by working with the root of the problem.
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Janese Johnson has been doing intuitive counseling nationally for more than 20 years. She may be contacted at janesej-at-buncombe.main.nc.us.