Headlines on October 2nd featured a phrase that has become increasingly prevalent throughout the nation—“Largest mass shooting in US history.” In continuing with an alarming trend of shootings, dating back to the deadly Columbine massacre of 1999, a tragedy befell Las Vegas on the night of October 1st. At the Route 91 country music festival, Jason Aldean was performing when shots were suddenly heard piercing through the music. While festival goers thought the bullets were fireworks that accompanied the show, it soon became clear that was not the case. In an act of terrorism, Stephan Paddock took the lives of 58 people and injured 546 others in the process; his…
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Empower Young People to Talk About Mental Health
The campus tragedies that have occurred over the past few weeks at Northern Arizona University, Texas Southern University and Umpqua Community College in Oregon have, once again, brought mental health issues to the forefront of the nation’s consciousness. These large-scale, horrific incidents – while still rare, receive a lot of media attention. Unfortunately, they only tell part of the story. The reality is that there are many mental health stories, in every community, sometimes very close to home. The majority of people struggling with mental health issues do not resort to violence, and instead are more likely to have acts of violence happen against them. Mental health can be one…