Is one young man with severe mental issues now to blame for a society we all took part in creating?

Its pretty clear that Adam Lanza was a victim too.  I’m really struggling with the idea that one young man with severe mental issues is now to blame for a society we all took part in creating.  Adam is not the problem, Adam is the symptom.  Each and every shooter is like an ulcer on the skin of America….they keep bubbling up and we curse them (and are aggravated by them) we temporarily change our ways to accommodate them and eventually throw a mediocre fix at them.  The scar never really heals because we only treat the surface and not the core issue. For those who profess to be Christian, live by your faith right now.  You say each person was created in the image of God, so too was Adam…and we are not here to judge each other remember?  In life we are both teachers and students to each other. Are we going to learn or (once again) burry our heads in the sand? Adam has a family that is grieving today too; his Dad, his brother, his Aunt’s & Uncles and all others who knew and loved him.  What he did Friday morning was beyond comprehensible; unconscionable evil we simply cannot wrap our minds around, but he wasn’t raised by himself or in a vacuum. We are all victims to a society we created and must now change.

The recipe to this kind of horror is clear and evident!

Every time a parent endorses violent video games or movies they contribute to the possibility of mental instability in a child (remember, there were babies at the midnight showing of the extremely violent Batman movie where the last crazed shooter erupted?) and every time a parent allows a day care or television to play a bigger role in their child’s life then they do, this adds to the recipe...and when parents decide to allow their kids to primarily grow up eating fast food, junk food and drink sugary drinks yep you got it, they add to the recipe. When parents are painfully aware that their child is socially awkward and isolated but ignore it hoping it’s just a ‘phase’ that they will grow out of, again they add to the recipe of disaster. And when parents own guns and do not follow safety #1 which is to keep them locked up (with ammo and gun in separate locations) they add to the dire outcome.  

It’s not just the parents who know these truths! 

Teachers, Doctors, Neighbors and Clergy also have a role to play in helping the parent of an emotionally challenged child. Statistics now report that 1 in every 150 child in this country has some form of autism.  If we don’t find a way to intervene with mental health services and remove assault weapons from our society, we’re looking at an America that will become more and more violent. When a person has cancer, do they have to wait until it’s at stage 4 to start treatment? Why then does a person have to demonstrate that they are either harm to themselves or others before serious mental health services are offered? Often they don’t get treatment until the worst has happened.  Why is it this way America?

What happened to letting kids be kids?  Shouldn’t they be protected from violence in movies and games? Just the other day, I was flipping through TV channels and I heard a cartoon voice say,”Jackass.” It was none other than Bart Simpson talking to his Dad Homer. “Wow”, I thought ~ I’m actually offended by this. We have lowered our parenting standards to the point where we find disrespectful behavior, insolence and zero boundaries as acceptable.  Adam was a born perfect and beautiful (and just like the first graders he murdered) he had a big bright future in front of him. But at some fork in the road he walked into the dark forest and couldn’t find his way out.  Take a look around and ask yourself, “Am I doing all I can do to make this a more peaceful society?”

America, wake up! It takes a village!

Lisa Ekanger Your Hometown Realtor!