Wednesday, May 25, 2022

There was another school shooting yesterday in Uvalde, Texas. It is the deadliest shooting at a U. S. elementary school since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre. Nineteen children and two adults are dead. The 18-year-old gunman, who bought two semiautomatic rifles on his birthday, was killed by police.

I last wrote about school shootings in 2018. The shooter was a 17-year-old student at Santa Fe High School in Texas. The father said his son was a "good boy." He killed ten people and 13 others were wounded.

And we talked about it for a few weeks. And nothing changed. So, now I get to write about it again. That’s sad.

The problem is getting worse.

The first school shooting I remember Beech Brook responding to took place on October 10, 2007, at SuccessTech Academy in Cleveland. A 14-year-old student shot and wounded two teachers and two students. He shot himself in the head, committing suicide.

Between October 2007 and February 26, 2012 (5 ½ years), there were 37 documented school shootings in the United States. Two in Ohio.

Then on February 27, 2012, there was the shooting at Chardon High School. A 17-year-old brought a semi-automatic handgun to school and killed three boys and wounded three other kids. I was there right after it happened. Many of us were there, and we will never forget that day.

In the six years between Chardon and Santa Fe, there were 125 documented school shootings in the United States.

Since Santa Fe, less than four years later, there have been an astonishing 136 school shootings.

The families who lost a child and the families who lost a teacher and even the family of the gunman in this latest incident will be scarred for life. Everyone in the community will be scarred. And everyone in the communities that suffered school shootings prior to yesterday will be retraumatized. I know I am.

Often, the discussion after a school shooting turns to the lack of or inadequacy of mental health services. Obviously, this is part of the solution, but it is not the whole solution.

Beech Brook has been a national leader in providing school-based behavioral health services for decades. Our school-based services are designed to improve the quality of life for students who experience severe mental health, emotional and behavioral difficulties. The goals of the program are to help children and families thrive by promoting healthy child development and prosocial behaviors; improving school culture and climate; and empowering teachers to improve academic performance.

It is not enough. We have a culture problem.

Every issue is divisive, and nothing gets resolved. We can’t even agree on the simple things. Just this past week, a lacrosse player from Lake Catholic High School brandished a swastika on his leg during a game with Orange High School. At least one person in the stands was allegedly using racial slurs.

Unbelievably, on Facebook, there were people defending and making excuses for these actions. "Maybe the kid didn’t know what was on his leg. Maybe it was some symbol for well-being." "It looked like a boat propeller.” “It’s free speech, and we are teaching our kids the dangerous lesson that they can’t have their own opinions.”

Have we gone crazy? I think we have.

But maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that people would defend or excuse such despicable behavior. Think about it. We won’t protect people from being shot in their place of worship, and we won’t protect people from being shot in the grocery store.

WE WON'T EVEN PROTECT OUR KIDS FROM BEING SHOT IN SCHOOL!

We need to make major changes in this country. We need to reevaluate the way we treat each other. We need to reevaluate our culture. We need substantial changes to our gun laws, and yes, we need more support and resources for behavioral health.

We need to do it all.