Response to this discussion post
“Adolescents who reported greatest access to guns either in their own home or a friend’s also were among those with higher risk for violent behavior.” (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2017). This is an interesting concept because so many homes in the United States have firearms in them. According to the research by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), guns cause 29 percent of adolescent deaths in the United States (AAP, 2017). Very few adolescents personally own a firearm. Most are in their own homes or in the home of relatives. (AAP, 2017).
The adolescents with mental health issues were twice as likely to say that getting a gun would be easy for them . This is disturbing, but may be explained by the fact that people who look for firearms are more likely to know where to get them than those who do not see a need or a purpose for the firearm. The impact on society is clear. Children are afraid at school; parents are afraid to send their children to school and children are much more at risk than ever before of a being a victim of gun violence.
The way to prevent this violence against youths, according to the AAP is to advance meaningful legislation that keeps children safe They advocate stronger state and federal gun laws. This is a concept that has been discussed in political circles for quite a while. While the second amendment of the United States constitution states that “the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed there is also no right to cause violence with the arms. People with mental health issues especially should not “keep and bear arms” due to a potential for violence.
The AAP also calls for stronger background checks and safe firearm storage ). While these issues may stop some violence, the risk remains because, children, especially those with mental health issues, know where they can get a firearm. Background checks cannot stop a youth from taking a firearm from someone’s home. Therefore, the key would be increased access to mental health services. Some parents may not seek the service because of the cost. Others just may not know how to seek the help. If increased access to mental health was available, the nursing profession could assist in assessing the risk of a youth and determine if strong measures are needed to ensure that they do not have access to firearms. If a parent were told that their child was at risk, maybe the parent would ensure that no firearm was available for the youth to access.
Therefore, the nursing community should advocate for greater access of mental health services for adolescents to ensure the safety of society and the prevention of suicide among children. According to Antonacci, Doucette, Sanzone, Chevrier, Potter, Bugar, Spence, and Hendrick, (2018), “nurses are in a position to advocate for their patients and families, because of their combination of clinical expertise, technical and theoretical abilities, and their privileged knowledge of their patients’ and familys’ identified needs” (p.1). Furthermore, “nurses frequently spend more time with patients than any other healthcare professional, they are in key positions to detect and prevent suicidal behavior in youth”
