By Kaitlyn Fehr Psychology is not excusology, and mental illness should not be used as the default reason behind school shootings. House Speaker Paul Ryan claims that “mental health is often a big problem underlying these tragedies,” but leading mental health experts disagree. A study done in 2015 discovered that less than 5 percent of gun-related killings in the U.S. were committed by people diagnosed with mental illness. Many of these perpetrators might be considered mentally unstable, but not mentally ill. A mentally unstable person may have turmoil in their lives that causes them to snap, but someone who is mentally ill is someone who has been officially diagnosed with a disorder. In the wake of every mass shooting, a select group of people tries to defend why or what the shooter did. Even in the case of the most recent Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Twitter users were justifying Nikolas Cruz, the shooter’s, actions by saying that he had been bullied. Survivors of the shooting responded by saying what was on everyone’s mind, that being bullied does not excuse murdering 17 people. Yes, the school should have helped Cruz while he was bullied, but other kids who have been bullied have worked through their problems without taking such drastic actions. Even if the gunman was actually mentally ill, that mental illness does not excuse his actions. Instead of describing every mass murderer that was bullied as a “mentally-ill lone wolf,” the media needs to call them what they are -- terrorists. Individuals who are truly mentally ill should always be given the help they need, and classifying every shooter as mentally ill, even if they are not, is just making it harder for actual mentally ill people to avoid stigmas. Due to stigmas, the general public sees all mentally ill people as violent individuals that have to regarded as dangerous at all times. For the most part, mentally ill people are not violent, and portraying crimes as a result of mental illness reinforces that stigma of violence. In the wake of the Florida massacre, the media should focus less on trying to classify Cruz as mentally ill, and instead focus more on the amazing things the survivors are doing. Photos Courtesy Of: pixabay.com; flickr.com
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Elena Caputo
Hi! My name is Elena, and I'm a senior at Wilson and one of the Editors of the Editorial section. If you have any questions or ideas or if you want to write, email me at [email protected]! Olivia MonosHello! My name is Olivia and I'm a junior this year, and one of the editors of the Editorial section! I'm really excited to write for the Paw Print again this year!
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