Lost Souls, Wasted Lives

     It happens every time there’s a mass shooting. Arguments about guns and mental illness are debated as the reason for the shootings. Anyone that believes there is one answer to solving these tragedies doesn’t understand the problem. At first the problem seems easily identified but the mass shootings are just the results of the problem. I struggle to come up with answers for all the issues we have today.

     Both guns and mental illness have been around for many years, but only in the last twenty years have mass shootings become routine. Something changed thirty years ago, and we need to recognize that it may take a long time  to fix the issues, but we need to start now.

     So what’s changed in thirty years? Let’s take a look.

CNN the first 24-hour news started in 1980.    

Constant news updates became the norm both on television and the Internet desensitizing the public to violence. This may not have been intentional but due to constant exposure of these mass shootings.

AR15 first sold to the American consumer around 1989.

The Columbine school shooting took place in 1999 and these sort of tragedies are becoming more frequent. Males have predominately been the violent perpetrator of mass killings and many use the AR-15 assault rifle.

Mortal Combat video game was first released in 1992.

Video games turned the violence into a game that targeted young males. The electronic world blurred the lines of the real world further desensitizing society.

Motorola introduced the first mobile phone in 1973. The iPhone, the first smartphone, was launched in 2007 to great success, followed by many Android phones.    

Smartphones have reinforced our disconnection to society. We can get news, play games, bully others and text without having eye-to-eye contact. We have become more impersonal with others.

Over medication of our society is due in part to the easy access to prescription drugs.

There are more ads about mental illness than ever before. Are there more mentally unstable people now than in the past? If so, why? How many people have mental issues? To what degree? How do you recognize a mentally unstable person?

     Parenting has changed as well. Many young parents approach parenting as if their child is their friend, defending them even when they are wrong. It's important to be a parent not a friend in your child's formative years. The first gamers are now becoming parents so their view of gaming and life is different. Have parents become weak? Weak parents will produce weak children.

     This constant exposure to violence through news, movies and video games plus the availability of high-powered weapons has had a devastating effect on our behavior. Males quickly took to these violent video games while females played more social video games. Feminist groups support young women but what groups support young males? Young men need to know they can be masculine with out violence.

     Recent studies show females are now catching up to the males in the violent video game genre. What does this mean for our society?     

     There are many questions on how to curb violence in our society, so how can there only be one answer? There's not.

     Stricter gun laws are needed that protect the public not just the 2^nd amendment. Politicians need to support the citizens, not the lobbyists.

     US citizens need to cut back on the 24-hour news because it’s detrimental to a happy life. It’s unlikely that the news media will reduce coverage.

     We all need to try to better understand mental health and the causes. Congress spends money freely, how about putting more toward treating mental illness.

     Parents need to take on the responsibility for their family and not expect a pill to solve the problem. Our over medicated society brings about personality changes. It will take better parenting, by interacting with you children daily and monitoring their choices.     

     It will take a long time to make significant strides toward eliminating mass shootings. There is no quick fix or simple path.

     This is an elephant size problem and the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. I’m good 
with the first bite being to the ban the AR-15 assault weapon. "Just Saying…."