An Old Piece of My Writing

Payson Kirkham

Ms Gidion

English IV Period 4

29 March 2018

Societal Violence

School shootings are a very controversial topic right now. Within three months, there have been four school shootings. The media and many people are blaming these issues on gun legislation. However, guns are not the only problem. Society as a whole, has become more chaotic that gun control legislation by itself will not eliminate school violence.

Mental health issues are on the rise and are not being responded to. Mental illness is at the root of every instance of school violence. “Our descent into the Age of Depression seems unstoppable. Three decades ago, the average age for the first onset of depression was 30. Today it is 14. Researchers such as Stephen Izard at Duke University point out that the rate of depression in Western industrialized societies is doubling with each successive generational cohort. At this pace, over 50 per cent of our younger generation, aged 18–29, will succumb to it by middle age. Extrapolating one generation further, we arrive at the dire conclusion that virtually everyone will fall prey to depression” (Schumaker). Depression alone, has become a very big issue. Some many people are not as stable in general as they used to be and nothing is being done about it. Depression is so very common now and only some cases are reported and get help. Mental illness is also closely related to violence “At least 59% of the 185 public mass shootings that took place in the United States from 1900 through 2017 were carried out by people who had either been diagnosed with a mental disorder or demonstrated signs of serious mental illness prior to the attack” (Duwe and Rocque). Though not all violence is caused by people who are not mentally stable, a lot of the major shootings have mental health involved.

Violence is spreading and becoming accepted. Children are exposed to violence at a young age and become desensitized to it. “A 2002 report by the US Secret Service and the US Department of Education, which examined 37 incidents of targeted school shootings and school attacks from 1974 to 2000 in this country, found that “over half of the attackers demonstrated some interest in violence through movies, video games, books, and other media” (Kaplan). Violence is in so much of the media. Video games, tv shows, and the news is littered with violence. “The average American watches nearly 5 hours of video each day, 98% of which is watched on a traditional television set, according to Nielsen Company. Nearly two-thirds of TV programs contain some physical violence. Most self-involving video games contain some violent content, even those for children” (Kaplan). Violence is so prevalent that kids become used to it. Even starting with kids cartoons, children become desensitized to all the violence.

Our society has become demoralized. Human life is not valued like it used. Some many people are not as concerned about taking a life as people 30 years ago. “Why is it that when animals are in trouble, hurt or killed we become outraged and take to social media to defend their life, but when a human’s life is endangered either no one cares or we make it into a joke” (Watson). This particular article was written after the Harambe incident when people freaked out about the zoo killing a gorilla. Society has moved so far from the morals they used to hold a few decades ago. ‘“We have become desensitized to death, we have become desensitized to killing, we have become desensitized to empathy for our fellow man and it’s coming at an extraordinary price and we have got to look at the root cause of this,” the 51-year-old Republican governor told attendants. “We can’t celebrate death in video games,” Bevin continued, “celebrate death in TV shows, celebrate death in movies, celebrate death in musical lyrics and remove any sense of morality and sense of higher authority and then expect things like this are not going to happen”’ (Sommerfeldt). Gun control is what people are freaking out about a lot. Guns laws are an issue but they are not the major issue. Some laws can help to an extent but fixing the societal issues will do more.

Mental health issues are rising and getting out of hand. 30 years ago, anyone who wasn’t completely mentally stable, went to a mental hospital until they were no longer a danger to themselves or others. Society has allowed more violence in the media and has come to accept it. Little kids become used to seeing people die in movies, tv shows, and most importantly, video games. They become desensitized to it and it becomes not only a normal thing, but also addictive. Society has also lost its sense or moral. Human life no longer has the same amount of value as it used to. So many abortions are performed everyday, and those are human lives that are being taken.

Duwe, Grant, and Michael Rocque. “Actually, There Is a Clear Link between Mass Shootings and Mental Illness.” Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 23 Feb. 2018,

ubterranean-world/201802/mental-health-and-school-shootings

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