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American tragedy: Gun control and mental health aren’t an either or
April 17, 2021


As conversations about gun control percolate across the nation, one film asserts that an essential component of prevention starts years—even decades before a person buys a weapon. American Tragedy is a documentary that follows the story of Sue Klebold, mother of a Columbine shooter, as she asks what it would take to stop the next school shooting.

With the recent attack at Austin-East Magnet High School, many are concerned that the return to in person learning will have a parallel return of school shootings. While tighter measures around gun ownership are a vital component of prevention, American Tragedy argues for upstream prevention that looks beyond just gun control or lockdown drills.

Journalist Lisa Belkin observes in the film, “When we’re talking about school shootings, people go to one of two things. They go to guns or they go to mental illness. I think most of us understand that you need to go to both.” Producer Lisa Sabey says, “We wanted to acknowledge what often feels a bit under- discussed in these topics: that prevention is more than run hide fight trainings; it’s more than identifying red flags. It’s a paradigm shift.”

The film advocates instituting mental wellness-based curriculums at K-12 schools across the nation and equipping parents with mental wellness skills that they can teach their children from birth. The outcomes of this approach to prevention are promising. Studies have linked early skill building in various populations to decreases in violence, suicide, instances of serious mental illness, addiction, and several other emotional and behavioral issues.

The message of American Tragedy is that we can be having a bigger conversation about school shooting prevention as we work to make schools not only safer, but healthier.

American Tragedy is the winner of the Best Documentary at the Boston Film Festival. It is available now on Amazon.

Source: Parents to Parents, an NPO based in Colorado established by a mother and son team, Lisa and Joshua Sabey. Parents to Parents produces documentaries and educational shorts dedicated to teaching and promoting mental wellness for parents and children.
















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