I am outraged and appalled that four more persons were killed in a school shooting. I am outraged and appalled that the 14-year-old child who shot and killed four people at his school and wounded several others is going to be treated as an adult in the criminal justice system.
Scientists tell us that young people’s brains are not fully developed until about the age of 24. This child still has 10 more years of development before becoming fully mature, yet the courts will try him and no doubt convict him and send him to prison for the rest of his life.
According to recent news stories, he experienced a lot of turmoil at home and school and had asked for help with his mental health. But we live in a country whose health care system is based on private profit and not human need, so if a young person needs mental health help, few will be able to afford it or access it. We also live in a country awash in assault rifles designed to kill people because the gun lobby is so powerful they can buy politicians, particularly right-wing ones.
Prison is all about punishment, never rehabilitation. That system is violent and inhumane, with its further punishments of humiliation and solitary confinement. Can you imagine an immature, emotionally fragile teenager forced to live in this environment? It’s a form of torture and should never be allowed.
Instead of schools spending their precious resources on hiring cops who are supposed to keep students safe from attack but often don’t, we should be spending it on hiring more counselors and mental health professionals to help heal the trauma so many young people face today in our violent culture.
If we can organize around our collective human needs, we can offer young people a hopeful future instead of the hopelessness many of them feel today.
