It’s been five days since the tragic shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in New Town, Connecticut. Classes resumed for most students in the town yesterday. Meanwhile, the families of victims continue to cope and mourn this week, as they bury their loved ones.
The shooting last Friday has re-launched a national dialogue over gun control, with several Democratic politicians calling for tougher regulations.The National Rife Association announced that they will hold a news conference on Friday to comment on the shooting and respond to the criticisms they’ve received.
As we debate the nation’s gun control policies, there is another conversation taking place over the mental health resources available to troubled youth like the shooter, Adam Lanza. Rick Moody is someone who has thought a lot about access to mental health services. He’s the author of “The Ice Storm,” and he recalls being a troubled adolescent in high school.
“I wan an incredibly troubled kid in Connecticut who went through a lot of bad stuff in his 20s, and I often felt when I was younger…great affiliation with all the troubled kids of Connecticut,” Moody told John Hockenberry. “I do think there are a lot of other sort of borderline kids trying to get through their lives in the United States today who could use a little sympathy and support, and that might be the thing that keeps them from doing something they regret.”