To the Journal editor:

Does Marquette County have a potential active shooter? Who are these young men who engage in random or systematic shooting sprees with intent to harm multiple others? How do they fall under the influence of hateful rhetoric and why don’t they have the capacity to feel empathy for the people they murder?

Were they bullied in school, and how many fell through the gaping holes in the safety net of school and community support? The Sandy Hook shooter had a diagnosed developmental disorder.

How many other shooters have developmental or emotional disabilities?

The Highland Park [Chicago, July 4] shooter fired from the roof of a store where I have shopped with my daughter. Locals knew about the 22 year-old shooter’s troubles.

What if he had a community health system where he could find support and guidance before and after he dropped out of school? Who cared about his quality of life?

In 1990 I worked in a public health program for low income pregnant women with other risk factors including absent fathers, health conditions, and histories of childhood abuse and neglect.

We mentored them during pregnancy and visited the home to support good newborn care. We connected them with other support services to ensure a healthy start in childhood. Struggling families were referred to the community mental health system, part of a statewide safety net for high risk children and adults.

But in the following decades the state government focused on moving resources away from health related programs, and eliminating most support services.

Now while the safety net is dramatically reduced, troubled boys find a violent social media net that reinforces a need for personal power and notoriety. When these kids leave school, they face communities with minimal or no support systems to encourage their continued development.

When I read the calls for “mental health services” after these shootings I wonder if people understand that it takes system-wide mental health support to make a difference. Communities must reinvest in the children. It makes sense on all levels.

Nobody saves money when we finance disturbed young men in prison for the rest of their lives, and scores of young people learn to fear and avoid their schools.

Communities that ignore their fragile children undermine quality of life for everyone. Please think about this when you vote.

Would your candidate vote for state mental health support programs?

MARY PELTON COOPER, PsyD

Psychologist

Negaunee Township