Mental health and violence is a problem. It can cause a ripple effect. First, someone has bad mental health and takes it out on someone else. Second, all the people that knew the victim are also affected. Family, friends, and loved ones all get really sad and that lowers their mental health. That is why we need to make a change for people who have bad mental health and are choosing violence. People should be able to feel better about themselves so they don’t feel the need to harm someone.

Do you want the world to be a safer place? Probably. Do you want to lose a loved one from violence? Probably not. If this has happened to you, first, I’m so sorry, and second, I feel your pain. My cousin got shot because someone was mad at him last year. After it happened my mental health lowered because I was really sad. It also might have happened to you. According to the “Mental Health” and “Mental Illness and Violence” articles from Gale Opposing Viewpoints, in 2023, 23% of adults in the U.S. had a mental illness along with 33% of teens having a major depressive episode that year. Also, normally, 25% of people can expect at least one disorder in their life. So there needs to be easier ways to seek help.

A solution to this problem can be more specific mental health programs and rehab facilities to help raise your mental health. Another way is to make sure everyone knows the hotline to call if they need help. I will admit I did not know what it was in Vermont until last year. If you do need to call for help the Vermont hotline is 988. It should be more engraved in people’s minds like 911 is. Maybe if these people called the hotline or went to someplace to help their mental health, they would not have done these things.

So, before you go and hate the person who killed your loved one, think about their story and background. Just to be clear, I am not saying that you should not be mad at the person who shot someone you cared about because you have the right to have all the emotions. All I’m saying is that you should just take a second to think about what that person’s mental health could be. Also look at your mental health and try to keep it good. So, in the end, we need to make it easier for people to seek mental health help so they do not feel the need to hurt someone.

A Concerned Middle Schooler
VUMS Student

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Students at Vergennes Union Middle School finished a civics unit by writing open letters. The driving question was: What makes democracy work? To create this final project, teachers and students used the New York Times open letter contest framework. Students could choose any topic they felt passionate about. The letters are being published in several different venues: in our school newsletter, on Front Porch Forum, in The Addison Independent, and on school bulletin boards. Two students submitted their letters to the NYT contest! Our students did a wonderful job writing these letters, and we hope you enjoy reading the ones that appear here. We expect these students will continue to use their voices to highlight issues they care about!

Libby Payeur and Nan Guilmette
VUMS Humanities Teachers