Shooting at Northern Illinois University

[Maleah]

It makes me just furious to read news like this. so you're unhappy with your life....big deal! We all are unhappy at some point! so you go and take other people's lives along with you? it just makes me so mad!

And I hope I don't offend anyone with this but if you're thinking that stricter gun laws will stop these...well.....that's just wishful thinking. All that will accomplish is that it won't be a gun killing.....it will be stabbings, or bombs, or who knows what else. When someone wants to kill.....they find a way.....guns or no guns.

What a downward spiral we are in

My thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved in this tragedy. What careless thought for human lives

[Ive always been a dreamer]

It seems to me that we need to do a much better job of teaching our children how to cope with the disappointments in life. As we all know so well, life is full of ups and downs, and in order to stay well-adjusted, it is imperative that we learn to deal with both effectively. However, the individuals that carry out these atrocious acts are very deranged, IMHO. I also feel we need to do a much better job of identifying these types of individuals who demonstrate the potential for such violent behavior and help protect them from themselves and others.

[sodascouts]

Apparently this guy wasn't a current student, but a former graduate student. Sadly, the death toll has risen to 7.

[glenneaglesfan]

Oh, so sad. Maleah, I reluctantly have to agree with you about gun laws. After the shocking killing of children in Dunblane, our government banned handguns and imposed much stricter laws on rifles and shotguns. The outcome has been an explosion in gun-related crime involving illegal guns. The only thing about other weapons is that potential victims have a better chance of escape. There is no easy answer. Identifying these deranged kids would be helpful.

Two more suicides in Bridgend this weekend.

[Brooke]

I also agree with you about stricter gun laws not being the answer. Those that want guns to kill people with will get them anyway. I think dreamer is on the right track.

[Glennsallnighter]

Identifying these deranged kids would be helpful.

Two more suicides in Bridgend this weekend.

How awful GEF! We all have different problems to cope with in life but it must be terrible for a young person to feel so worthless that the only recognition they feel they will get is posthumously on their website.

Those of us who are parents or teachers (or both) or who work with young people in any capacity need to bolster their self esteem and self confidence. Young people need to be encouraged to feel valued and worthy in society. We need also to show them that while failure and disappointment do happen too they are not the end all and we need to teach them the strategies to cope with these and move on.

We all need to recognise and most of all love those children and young people who come into our spheres for who they are if we are to rid the world of these senseless incidents.

[tbs fanatic]

There needs to be a complete overhaul of Mental Health help in this country. There needs to be more of it and it needs to be easier to navigate. As the Mom of two boys with mental health issues of various kinds I can tell you first hand that it is not an easy process to get help. Lots of red tape and bs - you have to have the hide of an elephant to get your way through it. Fortunately my husband and I do but anyone who is even mildly intimidated would give up before they got to the help they needed - it is so grueling.

LOL - don't get me started on this I could go on for hours.

[Glennsallnighter]

Its much the same over here TBSF! However they may argue mental health services over here operate on a 9-5 Mon-Fri basis. So if you're feeling depressed on a Friday night chances are you won't be able to access the services needed until at least Monday. I don't mean this to sound flippant. We have had several cases in recent years where people have committed suicide in the interim, and in many of those cases they took partners/kids with them. In some of those cases the victims had tried to access services and found no emergency cover.

Oh and then theres the waiting lists............

And the shortage of acute beds/placements..........

And I hate to say it but its usually the people with the least financial and emotional resources that suffer most.

TBSF keep the elephant skin on. Your boys deserve the best of whats available. Good luck to you all.

[tbs fanatic]

We have had several cases in recent years where people have committed suicide in the interim,

We had that exact thing happen in our little town a couple of years ago - a young girl whose Mom had taken her into our local hospital emergency room only for her to be sent back home for some bs reason or another and that night the poor girl committed suicide. It was so sad. It caused a huge uproar locally with lots of promises made by officials to improve our Mental Health help locally but, of course, we are two years down the road and absolutely nothing has changed. It's really a disgrace.

[Ive always been a dreamer]

I totally agree - our entire health system here in the U.S. is in dire need of a major overhaul, including mental health services.

tbsf, good luck with your boys. I know it takes a strong will to get them the help they need and deserve. Kudos to you and hubby for your persistence.