Mental Health Screening Controversy

School violence is becoming a worldwide issue, but is a particular problem within the United States. Violence can occur in many ways such as; bullying, school gangs, physical attacks, and fatalities involved with guns. School shootings have been on the rise over the past several years. To bring awareness to school violence, teachers, staff, and parents need to be further trained in noticing warning signs of depression and anger issues which may lead to bullying and disrespectful learning environments for all parties. In addition to awareness within schools, the debate over gun control has been a topic discussed for many years in hopes to curb school shootings.

Since 2013 there have been 268 school shootings in the United States alone (Everytown for Gun Safety, 2017). School gun violence is becoming increasingly probable. It is imperative that our government and our citizens come together to create a solution and implement a plan to prevent and stop the occurrence of school gun violence. The solution, for some, is to bring more guns into the picture by arming teachers, principals, and other school officials, or place armed police officers at school sites (LaPierre, 2015). For others, the solution is to make even stricter laws regarding gun use or to get rid of these weapons altogether. These certainly are drastic options; I must say that I do believe the true solution is to increase the focus on mental health services and by extension, mental health awareness. There is simply not enough focus on the mental health of our youth and of our students. Mental health services are the most important step to making schools safer, because this solution touches the entire problem of violence at its root level.

It is estimated that one in every five youth experience mental illnesses that interfere with their everyday routines (“NAMI”). Mental health in the United States is a growing epidemic that needs to be solved. Youth with mental illnesses may never know that they have one; screenings for mental health are not something a lot of people take advantage of. Schools are a place where youth develop the most. In order for this to happen, society needs to make schools feel welcoming and provide support for those who need help. While some people do not believe mental illnesses exist, schools should require mental health screenings in order to prevent future violent situations, educate their staff, and do more to make students feel comfortable.

One evidence-based intervention is designed by Screening for Mental Health [SMH], the program is called Signs of Suicide [SOS]. The Signs of Suicide program is an award winning program and it is also a nationally recognized program (). The Signs of Suicide program is designed for youth of various ages ranging from middle school and the way to high school (). This program helps students learn how to point out signs of depression and suicide in themselves or in their friends or family. This program recognizes the emotional distress that often follows the aftermath of a completed suicide. Suicide, according to the Signs of Suicide Program is both recognizable and treatable. A well-designed prevention program can educate the youth on how to spot the warning signs of depression, in people they love. The Signs of Suicide Program provides everyday risk management tools and information to judge, prevent and respond to signs of suicide ().

One of the worst cases of failed reporting of mental health checks was the Virginia Tech Massacre, in April 2007, where a Virginia Tech student named Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people and injured 17 others, then killed himself on the college campus in Blacksburg, Virginia (“Mental Health Reporting”). Cho bought a gun despite going through two background checks through licensed gun dealers and having a mental health history in the records that should have prevented him from receiving a gun. Although Virginia had some background check laws at the time, certain cases were masked from the system. But, this is not the only instance, in fact, there have been 102 mass shootings in 2017 alone, from January 1st-April 18 (“Mission.”). Though

In the course of proper identification, evaluation, and treatment, children and adolescents suffering with mental illness can conduct positive, normal lives. Nevertheless, the devastating majority of children with mental illnesses are unsuccessfully identified and the lack of treatment or support services have led to a subordinate worth of life and violence. The Mental Health Awareness and Improvement Act of 2013 (S. 689) is an inclusive bill proposed to address the extensive issue of mental health. By strongly considering the United States’ struggle against mental illness and school violence, as well as utilizing theoretical constructs to examine the Senate’s bill, a social worker can develop a more holistic perspective that can productively integrate practical insights reached from a variety of different points of view.

Donald Trump is trying to tell American citizens that guns do not need to be banned, “and when Nikolas Cruz brought a rifle to shoot up a school in Florida, it was do to “mental illnesses” and he doesn’t deserve severe punishment and that people “should feel safe in school.” How are students supposed to feel safe after there’s been roughly 17 school shootings in the USA within 12 weeks in 2018? In example, If you were suffering from schizophrenia, and you murder a person, will you be charged and arrested for murder? Most definitely. So how are we going to protect someone who has killed 17 former classmates from depression? If people had more access to the proper mental help they needed in America, this would be less of an issue, but instead people are silently suffering.

For the past couple of years, the number of school shootings has increased. In the aftermath of these tragedies, reporters often discover that the shooter was mentally ill. Many people believe that mental illness refers to severe diseases such as schizophrenia but it also includes depression, stress, and anxiety. As mass shootings become more commonplace in America, parents are concerned for their children’s safety at school. Within San Gabriel, some people say that Gabrielino High School does not have adequate support and help for mentally ill students. They claim that any help from Gabrielino would be useless and believe that it is not Gabrielino’s responsibility to provide help for these students. Other people believe that there are enough resources at Gabrielino to help mentally ill students as well as sufficient awareness about this help. Through the annual Club Faire and Gab week, these people state that students know that they can reach out and receive support. These statements are not completely true; Gabrielino does have sufficient resources for students with mental illness but students are not aware of this help.

There is scientific evidence, such as restricting high risk individuals, such as felons and spouse abusers; from access to firearms, will reduce rates of violent crime. In case after case of mass shootings, we learn later that family members, friends, and even mental health professionals were concerned that someone needed help. Predicting violence is difficult, but identifying that someone needs assistance is not so difficult. This is where we need to readjust our focus and concentrate on helping people in distress. This approach requires not only a change in police policy but community mental health services that are oriented around

With mental illness identified as a very probable cause of these shootings, it is critical that the evidently poor and ineffective clinical help for mental disorders be reevaluated. A theoretical explanation for the modern prevalence of mental illness could be the increasingly optional nature of treatment: therapy is a choice, and checking into a facility or institution is

Incidences of school shootings have dramatically risen within the past few decades. Events like the Virginia Tech and Sandy Hook shootings have increased the fear of Americans worried for the safety of their children. Annually, many children, as well as adults, are faced with the risk of losing their lives to mentally ill criminals in a place commonly held as a safe haven—school. 160 school shootings have occurred in America since 2013, with an average of nearly one a week (“The). This is unacceptable and something should be done to prevent acts of terror like this from arising.

Having this be the case, people believe that training teachers on mental health will stop both of these things from happening. Just as House Speaker Paul Ryan states “‘Mental health is often a big problem underlying these tragedies’” in a New York Times article by Linda Qiu and Justin Bank to support these claims. Although, right after his statement the article goes on to say that Ryan’s claim expresses a common misconception along with stating that around half of Americans believe that misidentifying mentally ill people is a primary cause for gun violence or that addressing mental health issues would be majorly deterring. However, a professor from the University of Virginia specializing in psychology and law states from the same article “‘Two things typically happen in the wake of a mass shooting. First, politicians claim that mental illness is the major cause of violence in America. Then, advocates for people with mental illness respond by denying there is any relationship whatsoever between mental illness and violence. Both groups are wrong. Research shows that the association between mental illness and violence is not strong, but it does exist’”. In other words mental illness isn’t a primary cause of gun violence but does happen. Therefore, training teachers on mental health may be helpful but won’t seize the school shootings due to the fact that

Two of the main school shootings that happened in the U.S. are the Sandy Hook shooting and the Santa Barbara shooting. Both of the shooters in these events were diagnosed with a mental illness at a young age, however, both denied it and refused to get a treatment for it. When an individual with a mental health illness does not get a treatment, the illness only

In the United States, regardless of geographic location, 37% and 39% of children will have a behavioral or emotional disorder diagnosed by 16 years of age but there is a limited availability of the psychiatric services. Primary care providers (PCPs) are often the first line of care for the majority of children with mental and behavioral health problems.

According to an article called “Analysis of School Shootings,” “between 2013 and 2015, an average of two school shootings took place at K-12 schools each month;” however the shootings could have been avoided if someone noticed the signs that led to the shootings. Two of the most notorious school shootings were Columbine in 1999, and the Sandy Hook Massacre in 2012. Both events are perfect scenarios of the dangers of people not containing the knowledge to identify school shooters and it eventually led to fatal disasters. The two events express that the school shooters had troubled pasts (criminal records, one parent, victims of bullying), which ultimately prompted the shooters to attack their oppressors. School shooters use violent behavior to control a situation because they do not control emotions normally; they react only by violence. This reaction causes the school shooter to attack individuals with weapons that he or she most likely finds at home. School shootings are becoming more frequent due to disturbed adolescents who endanger the lives of people around them, and it should be a priority to teach students and teachers indicators of school shooters.