It used to be that a parent’s most potent nightmares revolved around the fear of abduction. Nowadays if you polled most parents, the threat of school shootings would top the list of the nightmare scenarios parents fear most. The thought of sending your child to school one day only to have them be slaughtered in their classroom is too unbearable to fathom.
The only positive news in discussing school shootings is that in the overall grand scheme of things, they are statistically one of the least likely threats your child faces. But one child killed is one too many, and between Parkland, Sandy Hook, Robb Elementary School and everything in-between, we’ve lost way too many young lives to senseless acts of terrorism.
Which brings us to the questions everybody wants an answer to: Why does this keep happening, and what can be done about it? The information herein will shed light on these seemingly senseless acts, helping you better understand the nature of the problem.
Of course, mass shooting tragedies can’t be separated from the larger problem of gun violence in general. I would therefore encourage all who are interested in learning more about mass school shootings to read our broader information on guns and gun violence in society. While the odds of your child dying in a mass school shooting are remote, the odds of your child dying from everyday acts of gun violence are much more substantial. In fact, gun violence has overtaken car accidents as the #1 killer of children.
Information on School Shootings:
What Causes School Shootings & How to Prevent Them
See also…
- Guns & the role they play in mass shootings (This link takes you to our gun area)
- Talking to kids about school shootings (This link takes you to our trauma & recovery area)