A Dangerous Son

It's terrible the situation these kids are in. A few things I noticed I that the mothers of the violent boy who beat up on his sister and the black boy didn't seem to deal out any consequences to their children when their violent or anti-social behavior occurred. The boy with anger problems literally pounded hard on his little sister while in the car. When they did get home, the mother lovingly escorts her violent son into the home while her beaten up daughter, who I think was 8, gets out of the car and goes in trailing behind mother and son; no hugs, no are you all right honey. Also, pretty much all the parents blame "the system," for not curing their child, or mismanaging their care or not wanting to pay for certain levels of treatment. It is THEIR CHILD to care for. No one is going to care about your child as much as a parent. And the whole world is not going to be responsible for your child. For the most part this documentary showed me how messed up some parents are.

Forget these other reviews that yell about child abuse and sensationalism, this was a very disturbing look at the most innocent victims of America's failed mental health system, children. In the 1920's, America had 30,000 mental hospitals, now we have 13. I'm serious. This film shows the aspects of children under our broken system. A system where children are either forgotten, or are put on medication that either doesn't work, or makes things worse. It shows the sadness of parents who are simply told by psychologists that they don't know how to help. As a person who grew up in the 90's, during a time when kids were force-fed ADHD medications, so in my reputable opinion, this film accurately portrays the calamity of parents and kids in this sad situation.

While the film portrays things well, I feel like it didn't push hard enough. There are some serious question about the roles of parents and psychiatrists in the mental deterioration of our defenseless child. While it appears most psychologists put their hands up in the air and say "I don't know" while at the same time deliberately prescribing medications that will either make things worse, or do nothing at all. At the same time, proper guidance is not given to parents on how to deal with it correctly. So while its portrayed, it doesn't go far enough to ask why and ask what can be done, at least not as much as most HBO documentaries. So while this is a tough watch, but an important one.

An overall interesting piece to watch. I just can't wrap my head around how it benefits a child with a mental illness to be surrounded by cameramen and crew.

And it gave little to no attention to the young black teenage boy and his family. And it left out why the woman was convinced her child was the next school shooter and instead just launched her into an authority on the issue?

I wish it had gone into more of the psychology behind these issues and the long term prognosis and eventual outcome for each of these boys.

This is an excellent documentary by Oscar nominated director Liz Garbus. The people who gave it bad reviews found it uncomfortable to watch, and it is. It should be. Viewers should be very uncomfortable with the fact that the three women it follows had such a hard time getting any help for their sons. For the lower income mom, treatment was a luxury she could not afford. Garbus was inspired by the viral blog "I am Adam Lanza's Mother," written by one of the women in the documentary shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting, and the documentary does a great job of connecting the problem of lack of treatment available to mothers of boys with severe psychiatric issues with the problem of school shootings. (All of which have been committed by teenaged boys with psychiatric problems.) This documentary should be watched and shared and, mostly importantly, sent to our representatives, with a strong urging that they delegate funding to this issue.

It's a small window into the true life of mental illness and the struggles of those who love them. The people who judge, point fingers, and place blame have never walked a mile in the shoes of severe neurological conditions. This documentary gives a voice to those who suffer. It's up to us to listen.