Today a gunman entered a elementary school in Connecticut and killed nearly 30 people, most of them children. It is a horrible tragedy. I can only imagine the emotional scars of the survivors and the pain of the family members left behind. It's something we never want to see happen.
In the following days I'm sure we'll be hearing lots of details, but I'm concerned where the conversations will go. It's natural for us as a nation to find someone or something to blame. Unfortunately answers aren't so simple. The shooter has been identified as a young man with a history of mental illness. While very few who suffer from mental illness become violent I worry about watching a nation start to question why someone didn't do something to stop him.
The reality is that not all people will show signs before they act. Mental illness is a fickle sickness to predict. It isn't linear, and no matter how much we want to we can't apply our own version of logic to an illogical circumstance.
Regardless of your opinions of what should have happened I hope that you will let your elected officials know. The fact is that mental health care services are few and underfunded. Even for those with great health insurance there isn't enough help to go around. And often times even if you can see someone needs help and you do everything you can help doesn't come. I've had to fight to help my mother get the help she needed, but it's always an uphill battle.
My prayers are will those affected by the shooting and I hope that we can all work together to make our world a safer place. Whether we need gun control, better mental health services, better security at schools or all three I hope we can all make our voices heard.
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