ipl-logo

Virginia Tech School Shooting Essay

738 Words3 Pages

I remember the day vividly. I was staying home from school with food poisoning and was laying in my mom’s bed, flipping through the channels to see what was on TV. Then, I had to stop. This was April 16, 2007. This was the day of the Virginia Tech school shooting. I had never seen anything like this before. I was 12 and never thought that a shooting could happen in a school environment. Sadly, 12 year olds today probably would not be as shocked as I was when I saw the images on CNN and frantically called my parents. Watching the coverage of this massacre all day, I was completely appalled that the shooter was mental ill and on a wait list for a mental hospital. The thought that there was a large wait for mental ill patients to get help was …show more content…

James, who had “no befits or insurance or any idea where he might find a doctor” (51). Gary Busch, who was tragically shot after appearing “to be experiencing a psychiatric crisis” (52). This helps to put a name and a person to the “over one million people suffer(ing) from mental illness” (53) in New York City. This number was staggering to me, as well as the fact that “close to 8,000 mentally ill people” are in NY prisons or jails. It was sad to read as well “that, nationwide, state spending on treatment for the seriously mentally ill is one-third less than it was in the 1950s” (55). With the increase in gun violence in communities and schools, it is shocking that there would be a cut in funds when it seems that more funding is necessary as we have people like the Virginia Tech shooter on a waitlist to seek treatment. As well, in the death of Kendra Webdale, her shooter “had not refused treatment, the state had repeatedly refused him mental health services that he knew he needed” (58). “That he knew he needed”. Wow. He knew that, because of his illness, he could cause harm to himself or others, yet the state let him down. No hospital would turn away a physically ill person, why would they reject one who was mentally

Show More
Related

  • Kent State Shooting Research Paper

    936 Words  | 4 Pages

    This led to protests and riots, including the one at Kent State University, where four young lives were lost. The Kent State shooting occurred on the 4th of May in 1970. There was a previous rally three days prior, and coming to a close, they decided to plan the next for the 4th. It was to be held at noon and once advisors had caught news they made it clear that this was to be prohibited.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Lessons From The Virginia Shooting By Nicholas Kristof

    1472 Words  | 6 Pages

    This bottle-necked writing pushes the theoretical on-the-fence reader to believe in Kristof’s only proposal. Kristof could have easily fixed this issue by expanding to ideas beyond his own. Jeffery Goldberg, a writer for The Atlantic, has a similar article looking over the issues of gun violence and gun control. While he may have similar views to controlling guns in the American populous, he brings up different points of view such as specifically suicides and the mentally ill. As Goldberg proclaims, “Longer waiting periods might stop some suicides.

    Read More

  • Robert Whitaker's Mad In America

    864 Words  | 4 Pages

    If doctors could make money by labeling their work a success, than they had motives to do so. State hospitals clearly did not care about their patients, as depicted by the crowded conditions and the unskilled, cruel workers that were hired (Whitaker, 2002). If they could save money, which could be used for other state needs, than states would prioritize the other needs, putting mental patients

    Read More

  • Was It Morally Correct For George To Kill Lennie

    1569 Words  | 7 Pages

    Many of the “patients” were sent to the institutions for varying reasons that did not require medical attention. This increased the patient to doctor ratio, and slowed other patient’s chances of getting the medical attention they needed, even if it was not truly helping their illness. The term mentally ill is defined as “continued display of unsound judgements and actions that do not fit into society’s values” (Swart) and “according the the Weschler Adult Scale III, mental retardation is at an IQ of 70” (“A Step”). “The Institutions were overcrowded with people who couldn’t really get better” (Payne). “Many of the patients got in because they weren’t wanted, they had phobias or panic attacks, or they were looking for a home” (Mental).

    Read More

  • Essay About School Shooting

    1164 Words  | 5 Pages

    Gladwell article was agreeable and disagreeable. There is a lot of school shooting happening, but it 's not getting popular and everyone isn 't going to start shooting up their school. The article has some agreeable saying, but yet there are some that you have to think about and realized it 's all wrong. In the article they give examples on how the teens that do shoot up their schools or just schools in general have the same mindset, but that 's not true. They all have different reasons why they do it.

    Read More

  • School Shooting Intervention Paper

    320 Words  | 2 Pages

    A school shooting is a traumatic event that requires early and effective intervention. Children are vulnerable to psychological stress which can cause devastating effects without proper intervention. The goals of my intervention plan are to clarify the cause of the shooting, stabilize the situation as soon as possible, mobilize necessary resources, normalize of the situation, get the victims to safety and facilitate healing and access to help for those who need it. The first step will be an immediate action of mobilizing the necessary personnel and resources to aid in the intervention process.

    Read More

  • Mental Illness In Girl, Interrupted By Susanna Kaysen

    834 Words  | 4 Pages

    In the book Girl, Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen, one of the biggest focal points is mental illness. Mental illness can be tough to talk about, simply because the phrase “mental illness” encompasses such a wide range of conditions and conjures up images of deranged people, but it is very important, especially in this book. There is a certain stigma that people who are put into mental hospitals because they have medical problems or are insane and a possible danger to society. While this is sometimes true, it is far more common for patients to need help for a disorder, but just don’t know where to go or what to do, and can end up putting themselves or someone else in danger.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On School Shooting

    1057 Words  | 5 Pages

    There have been 18 school shootings across the nation since January 1, 2018, which includes shootings where guns were fired accidentally and no one was injured, according to www.bing.com. This is a major problem because many students, staff, and families are being affected. It is a trend that mental illness is the root cause of the shooter’s actions. This is a small part of the reason; however, I believe there are many other reasons: grandparents are raising children, guns are too accessible, violent video games, social media, news media, and the internet. Mental illness is a true problem with citizens who are not seeking help to treat their mental illness.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Columbine High School Shootings

    883 Words  | 4 Pages

    So with all these kids dying wouldn't you agree that we need better mental health support, so we can prevent all these shootings? I believe that if we had good and strong mental health support services in the USA then tragic events like Columbine H.S. & Sandy Hook would probably never happen. That is why I am supporting for the USA to talk more about how to create more mental health support programs to help prevent gun violence events. Bibliography Works Cited CNN Library "Columbine High School Shootings Fast Facts" CNN.com (Updated April 5, 2017) (Internet) (http://www.CNN.com/2013/09/18/us/columbine-high-school-shootings-fast-facts) Culp-Ressler, Tara "10,000 Kids Are Injured Or Killed By Guns Each Year In The U.S." Pediatrics Think Progress (2014) (Internet) (https://thinkprogress.org/10-000-kids-are-injured-or-killed-by-guns-each-year-in-the-u-s-bfb1e3bf70dc)

    Read More

  • Illness In Prisons

    1067 Words  | 5 Pages

    The main argument is that prisoners are not receiving adequate services to cope with their mental illness. The article uses information from mental health chief administrators of state prison systems. This is useful to me as it allows a unique point of view of mental illness in prison, which is the ones who are providing it. Brandt, A. a. (2012).

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On School Shootings

    985 Words  | 4 Pages

    A nonprofit group that attempts to prevent gun violence called “Everytown for Gun Safety,” released a statement about school shootings. The organization claimed that the school shooting at “[Marjory Stoneman Douglas High] is the 18th school shooting in the U.S. in 2018.’” (Cox and Rich). In less than three months, there have been eighteen school shootings. This shows that schools are no longer a safe environment.

    Read More

  • Mentally Ill In The 20th Century

    78 Words  | 1 Pages

    Today , in the 20th century , there is a shortage of care for the mentally ill and some are in jails and the streets because of the government won 't help their needs . So , you may be thinking it is no big deal and it may not affect you , but it does affect half million people out there . The patients who died in asylums , many years ago who were treated like animals .

    Read More

  • Psychiatry In American Life Summary

    237 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the 1961 article titled “Psychiatry in American Life” published in The Atlantic magazine, American psychiatrist and author Geer William wrote that “The typical state hospital does a good job keeping patients physically alive and mentally sick." (qtd. in Ford). Although many advances have been made in the field of mental health, one core issue remains the same. Which is the mentally ill being pushed into facilities that are seldom concerned with the patient’s well-being. -------------

    Read More

  • Mental Illnesses In Prisons

    892 Words  | 4 Pages

    “People with mental health problems are almost never dangerous. In fact, they are more likely to be the victims than the perpetrators. At the same time, mental illness has been the common denominator in one act of mass violence after another.” In his statement, Roy Blunt gives a new perspective on how crimes are related to mental illnesses. As he mentions, not all people with mental illnesses are dangerous, however, it seems that the blame for violent crimes is almost always put on a mental illness.

    Read More

  • Ethical Issues In Patient Care

    1592 Words  | 7 Pages

    New York in the 80s had streets full of citizens who were homeless and were being institutionalized for a mental disability, such as the case of Joyce Brown. The use of involuntary psychiatric commitment for an individual – although a justifiable act to a physician due to the principle of utility stating the need to help the most people for the best outcome – should not deny a patient’s right to autonomy, especially at the cost of non-maleficence. The United States has changed the ways in which a person is assessed and put into psychiatric treatment against their will by the judgement of the physician. There were patients who had chronic illnesses and were subdued by restraints and sedation up to 1950s.

    Read More

More about Virginia Tech School Shooting Essay

Open Document