“It would immediately label the child as a problem student because he or she had mental health treatment, and it actually deters parents to get treatment for kids.”
This is literally exactly what I was talking about when I went off about that poor autistic child being bullied and harassed for being autistic, because the media has shaped mass shootings as being a matter of mental health, rather than being fucking honest about the entitlement privileged people feel and their all-too-easy access to guns.
You know, I was a “problem child”. And everything that made me a problem had to do with my mental health and not with me actually causing problems. I was targeted for standing out, and it ruined my entire elementary school life, and continued to affect my later years, permanently stunting my mental growth and well being.
The phrase “problem child” always puts me on edge because of this. I have seen far, far too often – and experienced – the fact that it’s not the child, but the adults around them that have the fucking problem.
But no, instead of going into how kids are raised and socialized, and how shitty parents let them have access to guns so they can weaponize their shitty upbringing, let’s place the blame on kids who are already trying hard to fit in, who are already being bullied and singled out, and make everything worse by putting a black mark on their permanent record for everyone to see and speculate about and make pre-judgments on before they even see this kid.
I’m so pissed. I’m so furious I’m seeing stars.
The thing I hate most about this is the masquerading as if this helps. As if this does anything at all to help, when it’s a bandaid solution in the best light if you squint a little, with no intention to go further.
Like, I might, MIGHT be behind this approach IF these monsters planned to follow through with it – if they are serious about improving the welfare of children, reducing bullying, identifying victims of abuse, getting help to those who need it before it’s too late.
But they won’t. It’s pretending to fix the shootings, and pretending to fix the system – not one part of this is actual action on either issue. It’s lazy, careless, self-congratulatory bullshit and empty promises.
Stigmatizing kids? New law forces families to disclose student’s mental health treatment | Florida Phoenix
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