Article written by Richard Perez, 8th grade
Just a few weeks ago America witnessed what had the potential to be a history altering event, Former President Donald Trump was inches away from becoming the first Presidential nominee to ever be assassinated mid election, and the fifth president to ever be assassinated. This event sparked a question within the Empire Posts’ organization : could tragedies and near tragedies like the one that occured a few weeks ago be preventable had the perpetrator recieved mental help through parental and societal means?
While much is still unknown over Thomas Matthew Crooks (the man that tried to assassinate Donald Trump), some information on his parents tells us that they were social workers, while potential mental health problems could be to blame the parents once again come into question : what exactly did they know about their son’s mental health status, if no clear indicators of mental illness where shown then how present were the parents in this person’s life? Could this near tragedy have been avoided if it wasn’t for a lack of concern by the parents?
While this near tragedy is yet to get a difinitive answer, Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook shooter presents a perfect example of the question we are trying to present. Lanza had a troubled upbringing with limited parental supervision and support, particularly after his parent’s divorce. This lack of parental presence and guidance has been cited as a contributing factor in his severe mental health issues and eventual violent actions which resulted in the tragic deaths of 26 people including 20 children. It is quite obvious reading about this person’s life that the right parental guidance could’ve led to him recieving mental help and preventing the nationwide tragedy that occured that day.
As a popular saying goes – “It takes a village”, it takes multiple different people and precisely the right guidance for a decent human being to be raised, when either the school system, a social services system or the guidance and supervision of a parent is cut off then a severe risk is being taken in the upbringing of a child. So, tell us what you think : could the crime rate in this country be reduced with the simple help of social services or parental intervention?
