The fall semester for public schools across America is barely a few weeks old as students attempt to adjust to new policies limiting the use of cell phones, get back in the swing of doing homework and retiring for bed earlier so they’re well-rested for each day’s lessons.
Some children are still trying to improve their reading and mathematics skills as their scores on standardized tests declined dramatically during the recent pandemic.
Meanwhile, many politicians, particularly those who are currently on election ballots this fall and claim to be committed to improving conditions for children, have berated social media bullying which has increased in recent years.
Political leaders have also taken a stand on book banning – a topic which we still find difficult to fathom. At least not something that should be under the purview of governors or members of Congress but rather educators.
So, why can’t our elected officials put aside partisan politics and protect children, teachers and administrators from gun violence?
Why are bullets still receiving a hall pass, causing children and their parents to ponder if “today will be the day” that another angry or disturbed classmate takes aim at innocent men, women and children with weapons to which they should never have been able to gain access in the first place?
Being a student is already stressful enough without the looming threat of school shootings. And yet, because of our refusal to act, the madness has begun once again.
On Monday, Sept. 9, all schools within the Woodbury School District in South Jersey were closed because of a shooting threat that was posted to social media that named five schools on Sunday night. Three juveniles, including a 15-year-old, have already been taken into custody according to the Harrison Township Police Department.
And in Georgia, a state already mourning the death of two students and two teachers, after 14-year-old Colt Gray took a semi-automatic assault-style rifle – a gift he received from his father – to school on Wednesday, Sept. 4 and opened fire.
Reports on Sept. 9 indicated that more threats of violence have been received by school officials.
Prosecutors in Georgia have not only charged Colt but also his father, Colin Gray, in efforts to hold parents responsible for their children’s actions in school shootings – reminiscent of what happened in April 2024 when the parents of Ethan Crumbley, now 17, were both convicted of involuntary manslaughter after their son orchestrated a mass shooting at Oxford High School in Southeast Michigan in 2021.
Still, we cannot expect elected leaders to do the right thing when we have perspectives like that
expressed by Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, the Republican vice presidential candidate, who over the weekend, in commenting on the school shooting in Georgia, said, “it’s a fact of life.”
In response, U.S. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) said, “it’s only an American fact of life . . . this only happens in America.”
Aren’t we sick and tired of being sick and tired, yet? Protecting our children and educators from gun violence is not a partisan issue – it’s simply common sense.
So, what’s taking America so long to demonstrate to our children, their parents, their teachers and the world that we still have a modicum of common sense?