Archive: Opinions

All of the mass shootings over the years have affected me, but none so much as the slaughter of innocent 6 year olds in Newtown Connecticut on December 14th. I don’t know any of the children or their families, but I know Newtown. I know Sandy Hook.

I lived in nearby Danbury for the first 25 years of my life. The house I grew up in was only 10 miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School. My father’s real estate office was on Main Street in Newtown, a town so picturesque that it could stand as an icon for all that is “New England”. As a young adult, I often drove by the location of the school in Sandy Hook on my way down Rt. 34 to New Haven to visit my then fiancée, now wife, Donna.

For many Americans, and other people across the globe, the senseless murder of 20 young children, just beginning their lives, has become a watershed moment in the discussion of guns. The Newtown shootings are as much a significant wake-up call about violence as 9/11 was about national security. There is no turning back now, Americans want action, and will settle for no less.

This is why I disagree with the editorial appearing in the 12/21 edition of the Lansing Star, in which editor, Dan Veaner, blames media attention on school shootings for producing more school shootings. It’s not the media reporting the news that provokes a mentally disturbed person to commit horrible acts of terror. It’s America’s acceptance of violence as a resolution to conflict that increases that likelihood.

Media attention would not be on my list of reasons for the epidemic of mass shootings in public places. First and foremost is the proliferation, and relatively easy acquisition of guns. I’m speaking specifically about assault weapons. The National Rifle Association continues to spread lies that the government is plotting to take away guns from law-abiding citizens. This approach by the NRA is a disservice to its membership. No one wants to take away guns from people who hunt, use them for skeet-shooting and target practice, and collect old guns as a hobby. The current discussion is only about making it extremely difficult to obtain and use assault weapons, like AK-47s, Uzis, and rifles like the one used in the Newtown slayings, which can fire dozens of bullets without reloading. There is only one reason for assault weapons. It’s not about hunting deer...it’s all about killing people. No one other than a soldier in combat needs automatic assault weapons. This is a common sense issue. America needs to stop access to those types of guns.

Secondly, is the issue of mental health, which even in the 21st century carries a social stigma preventing people from seeking it, and parents, when they notice aberrant behavior in their children, closing their eyes to assistance. Also, for those who do try to obtain counseling and therapy, recent funding cuts for state agencies reduce their chances. America needs to make it easier for all of us, especially children, to get counseling. Therapy and medical treatment could do a lot for a child, so they don’t develop into an alienated teen, or sociopathic young adult, who decides one day to burst into a school to end their misery and take a lot of people with them.

Ironically, the town of Newtown, not far from Sandy Hook, was the home to the Fairfield Hills Hospital, a psychiatric rehabilitation and treatment center, which at one time had over 4,000 patients and a staff of almost 200. It closed down in 1995, due to the deinstitutionalisation movement, which was partially successful in finding smaller facilities for those who needed psychiatric care, but also forced many into the streets and homelessness.

The schools can also play a leading role in promoting good mental health for their students. Around 15 years ago, when my daughter attended Lansing Middle School, I was among several parents and educators who were on a committee devoted to character education. We attended a 4 day workshop at SUNY Cortland, and met at regular meetings thereafter. The goal of character education was to teach respect and tolerance for all individuals, to realize that everyone deserves to be treated fairly and equitably, that there was no place for bullying, and that each and every student had self-worth. The outcome of this type of education was to realize that every human being had dignity. In short, it was teaching children about ethics. Perhaps if schools across the nation emphasized this type of education...devised it according to the needs of their community...devoid of religious or political beliefs...our children’s mental health would start to improve, and their need to express themselves violently would dissipate. I don’t pretend to have all the answers.

Hopefully, the study which Vice President Biden will helm can come up with meaningful and practical results, and give to Congress, shedding its partisanship, for implementation into action.

Marc Catone
Lansing NY

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