As our nation reels from the devastating event of the school shooting in Florida this week (number 18 in 2018, according to CNBC and other media outlets), it’s easy to point fingers and blame the gun industry for making the guns, law makers for what they are or aren’t doing to control gun access, the perpetrator for his mental health issues and his alleged obsession with guns and knives and death, the leadership of the school, the parents….the list goes on.
But, as Dr. Mary Schoenfeldt, renowned expert and author of numerous books on school violence prevention and school violence aftermath, said the media and the blame seekers miss the most vital point. “The perpetrators (of school violence) don’t usually expect to go home. Their actions are a result of suicide ideation. They’ve made a decision to die because it’s easier than living…and while they are out there, they might as well take some others with them. Suicide and violence sometimes become the best option, in the minds of someone in psychic pain. My guess is this young man, like all of the others, had used options to cope until that moment when those options didn’t work anymore.”