School Of Shock By Jennifer Gonnerman Analysis

Response to the “School of Shock:”
The “School of Shock” was a riveting exposé written by journalist Jennifer Gonnerman in 2007, it outlined the horrendous abuse of youth in America’s mental health system. After extensively examining the infamous Rotenberg Center that used electrical pain to try to change the behavior of troubled youth, Jennifer Gonnerman wrote a fiery article detailing her examinations in the magazine entitled Mother Jones.
Rob Santana, a patient at the Rotenberg Center, woke in a pool of his own sweat almost every morning after having gut-wrenching nightmares about the pain he had to endure for simply being his natural self. What crime did Rob commit for him to have to live in such an immense torment? What could Rob have possibly done to be burdened with this inescapable anxiety? Rob, in a lugubrious tone, stated,"I thought of killing myself a few times." The electrical shocks caused him so much pain that he contemplated suicide as a means to escape his reality at the Rotenberg Center. Not only were there children like Rob suffering from anxiety and depression as the result of receiving repeated electrical shocks, there were children who lost their lives as well. Tragic occurrences at the

very least. The “School of Shock” article was justified in that it brought to our attention the link of electrical torture on the young mentally ill in mental health care facilities to increasing anxiety, depression and even death.
The fact that mental health care facilities like the Rotenberg Center, used pain infliction as a corrective measure was truly absurd. Young people with mental disabilities, emotional troubles, and social disorders are amongst the most fragile and vulnerable people in our society. To electrically shock them because they could not “properly” reflect how they felt in their behaviors is a direct assault to those in our society who cannot fend for themselves. It is an assault that imposes on our fragile compatriots an idea that they are wayward beast that need to be trained in order to be an integral part of our aggregate.
To combat this, we should err on the side of pragmatism and adopt more humane methods of behavioral correction for the mentally ill.

There are several other, safe, behavioral corrective methods that could be utilized in mental health care facilities. For instance, instead of shocking a patient for behavioral ‘misconduct,’ staff members could pull the patient aside and engage in a calm and peaceful discourse with said patient to delve into the psychiatric root of the behavioral misconduct. This would promote a nurturing environment as opposed to the oppressive environment cultivated by cruel punishment; electrical shock. This would also actively combat the inadvertent exclusion of our mentally ill youth and allow them to feel like normal, cared for, young

people.
The publication of “School of Shock,” made the plight of the mentally ill palpable to everyone. As a result, we as a whole should be obligated to see the pains of our mentally ill cohorts. We as a whole are morally obligated to treat our mentally troubled compatriots with compassion, love, and understanding. We all can take a stand to make sure no one has to feel like Rob Santana. Let us take a stand, and remember those who have fallen under the care of merciless mental healthcare officials. Ultimately, Jennifer Gonnerman did her part in igniting the fire that initiated change, likewise we can do our part in keeping that fire ablaze by uniting to bring back the humanity in mental health care facilities.