In Lieu of the recent tragic shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut, I thought Michael Moore’s “Bowling for Columbine (2002)” to be an appropriate documentary to share for those who missed it.
Synopsis
A look at America’s love affair with firearms and the pathology of violence in the United States, which as a country, has the highest gun-murder rate in the world. The question of why Canada–with 7 million guns for its total of 10 million households–doesn’t suffer from the same horrific gun violence, that its large neighbor to the south experiences, is examined.
I think Chris Rock said it best. “ If a bullet cost $5,000 there wouldn’t be anymore innocent bystanders”-Chris Rock
What I’ve learned as an adult: The media is good for four things, promoting fear, panic, anxiety and encouraging delusions of grandeur. Seriously who doesn’t want to be prepared to battle Magneto or be the last one standing after the zombie apocalypse?!
Moore points out that Canada, with an estimated ten million homes in 2002, seven million of which had fire arms, but still the homicide rate per year was less than 10% of America’s. The second amendment to the U.S. constitution protects the right of the people to keep and bear arms, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes. I for one, am in favor of one being able to do so, but what about the 27 innocent lives that were taken at Sandy Hook, the 12 lives in the Colorado theater shooting, or the 13 lives lost in the Columbine shooting and countless others? The shooters are said to have mental health issues. What constitutes mental health?…Or lack there of…
I would have to agree with James Taylor when he stated in his book “Secret O’ Life (1977)” “Even though many of us don’t suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder, it is clear that some of us are mentally healthier than others. Taylor mentioned 1) “The secret of life is enjoying the passing of time. The ability to enjoy life is essential to good mental health.” 2) “Resilience; having the ability to bounce back from an adverse situation.” He also mentioned “some people often set themselves up for added stress by the rigid expectations that they hold. Working on making our expectations more flexible can improve our mental health.” There is no destination for mental health, it’s a journey that requires constant reflection and self actualization. There are many variables that define mental health, these are just a few at the top of my list that Taylor used to do so.
We have to invest in our future generation. It is predicted by The World Health Organization (WHO) that by 2030 more people will suffer with depression than any other health problem. We have some children that are genetically predisposed to mental illness, in which we know to watch for, but we also have children in our lives that are suffering in silence for various reasons, scared into conforming to “societal norms” and continuing to fold under significant peer pressures. Even when we agree to disagree, its important that we teach our children that its ok to be/feel and have experienced differently whether we are accepting or just tolerating…I was once told that silence is what makes trauma so traumatizing. Get in tune with our children, with ourselves. Don’t let trauma drown you from the inside out, it should never literally mean the end of the world for anyone.
Here’s an intersting article I read this morning from the Huffington Post: “I am Adam Lanza’s Mother”
R.I.P to all the innocent lives taken in these tragic incidences.
mycatbarks 