Bringing this topic up in the context of the latest school shooting in Wisconsin
Article with some data for 2024: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-17/us-school-shootings-2024-in-numbers/104734714
I worry about it every time I hear about another shooting. So basically constantly.
I try to tell myself that it’s unlikely, or we live in a place it couldn’t possibly happen…which is all BS and I know it.
I just have to hope it’s something I’ll never have to deal with. If I was truly that concerned, I’d have to home school, and that’s just not going to happen. So it’s basically a low level of constant dread, and it’s disgusting that this is where we’re at here, because no one wants to face the facts and actually do anything about problem.
Not a parent, but I’ll speak for my Asian-American parents.
The policy is: “You must go to school even if you have Covid, either you are buried or your are at school.” (meaning: if you aren’t dead, you have to go to school)
“Classmates have bullet wounds? That’s your internship for being a doctor!” (/s they didn’t actually say this part, obviously, but it’s implied)
I work in schools. I’m cautious about making sure side doors close behind me. That’s about the extent of my shooting concerns. I’ve recently been complaining to security at campuses about lack of or poor fencing around playgrounds. I’m more concerned about strangers entering, kids running out, and stray dogs than shooters. Millions spent on door fobs, tracking systems, and bulletproof glass, but you can’t fix a kid-sized hole in a fence? They told me the state mandated the other things; fences aren’t required so the state doesn’t help fund. They didn’t jump on my offer of $100 and a shovel.
I couldn’t even stand the thought of getting used to it as a statistically insignificant threat so we emigrated. Just on general principles.
I wanted to comment that car crashes are probably a more common death cause for children than school shootings, and while this might still be true, apparently gun related deaths are the largest cause of death among US children with motor vehicle crashes coming in close second. Really sad considering both causes have pretty easy fixes if the government is willing to do something about it.
The vast majority of those gun related deaths are accidents with parents’ guns at home. School shootings are obviously much more prevalent here than elsewhere but they are still exceedingly rare, with perceived frequency amplified by the level of news coverage and the size of the country. I have two kids and feel strongly that parents spending any real thought worrying about school shootings (on a personal level, I mean, not a political one) is wasting their time. The cumulative effect of it probably makes schools worse
The vast majority of those gun related deaths are accidents with parents’ guns at home.
That really depend on the age of the child in question. According to the statistics as they get older it really tilts to suicide and criminal / gang violence.
The biggest step parents can take to prevent all of it though is pretty simple; secure your firearms so that children cannot access them.
As long as people are pointing their guns at each other instead of billionaires the government has no reason to care.
Remember this. The job of the government isn’t to keep YOU safe. It’s to keep the people in order. They are there to prevent civil disorder. And most importantly they are there to insulate the rich from the poor.
Working as designed.
