Let's help both genders

Maren Sanchez was stabbed to death in April for rejecting a young man who asked her to prom.
The teen who stabbed her confessed and was later admitted to a psychiatric ward.
The death has led to interesting debate and commentary about male rage and violence against women.
I am 100 percent behind the idea of women’s health and safety becoming more present in national thought.
However, I think one of the most compelling dialogues has centered around the lack of opportunities for young men with mental health problems to seek treatment.
During the spring semester I commented on the benefits of programs like Men Against Rape and the Representation Project.
Now, more than ever, their messages apply and need to be heard.
Maren Sanchez’s death was tragic and wrong. However, when the media covered the story, they wound up beating a dead horse.
Again and again I heard about how violence against women has escalated, how the young teenager’s death is a harbinger of violence to come.
No one, anywhere, was offering a solution.
After her killer’s admittance to a psychiatric ward, I began to think. In the past few years, there have been untold tragedies, mostly at the hands of unstable young men with weapons.
Schools and movie theaters, shopping malls and campuses have all been stages for brutality and death.
In the aftermath of these events, I want to see more programs and movements work toward helping young men.
I want there to be a renewed focus on men’s health, because it is so necessary to ensuring the success of women’s health, and vice versa.
I’m beginning to see some changes that I applaud and hope succeed.
President Obama has begun to take a serious look at the causes of rape and assault on college campuses.
Violence against women has begun to finally take center stage.
But in order to come full circle, we must recognize men are in desperate need of help, too.
As the Representation Project reported, boys are constantly stunted and frustrated by the need to “be a man,” which means anything from not being afraid to fight to killing someone if needed.
In order to truly appreciate Maren Sanchez’s life, we must recognize the significance of her death, and I hope we learn from it.
Her tragedy could potentially save lives if we are able to focus on the root cause of the violence — cries for help.
If we can do that, we can start enacting real change and stop future violence and heartbreak.

ewenning@indiana.edu