This week an 18-year-old gunman wearing body armor killed 19 children and two adults at a Texas elementary school. He also wounded about 15 more children and a police officer before being killed.
It was the worst elementary school massacre since the one at Sandy Hook in 2012 at Newtown, Connecticut, when a 20-year-old man shot and killed 26 people. Twenty of his victims were children between 6 and 7 years old, and six were adult staff members.
Officials said the gunman, Salvador Ramos, also shot his grandmother before driving to Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.
The nation mourns. Governor Laura Kelly directed flags to be lowered to half-staff throughout the state until sundown today. President Biden on Tuesday ordered flags at the White House, federal buildings and military posts to be flown at half-staff through Saturday “as a mark of respect for the victims of the senseless acts of violence.”
There are no easy solutions to this problem. We read that research on violence prevention in schools focuses on building positive climates and sharing information. Peter Langman, Ph.D., writes (www.schoolshooters.info), “Parents can do several things to minimize the risk not only of school shootings but dangerous behavior in general. Perhaps the most important task is to know your child.” That’s easier said than done, he admits. “Adolescents are remarkably good at living private lives that their parents never see.”
That is true in the case of the Texas shooter, a student at Uvalde High School living with his grandparents who rarely went to school. His grandfather said he had no idea Ramos has purchased two AR-15-style rifles for his 18th birthday or that the guns were in his house.
Still, there can be red flags. Langman suggests, “If the school is concerned about your child, pay attention.” Parents should also eliminate easy access to guns.
It isn’t just the responsibility of parents. Anyone who recognizes warning signs – including teachers and even students – can report their concerns to a teacher or to the police. There are documented cases where a report led to a search and uncovered a plan for a school attack.
The National Association of Secondary School Principals’ Principal Recovery Network (PRN) is a group of current and former school leaders who have experienced gun violence tragedies in their buildings. They’ve learned that a shooting can happen anywhere, but building relationships makes a difference.
As we grieve for the 10-year-old children lost in the latest massacre and for the adults who were killed in a Buffalo, N.Y., supermarket because another teenage gunman hated Black people, most of us wonder how the shooters could feel no empathy for others. We wonder how we can make children and everyone else safer. Parents wonder how they should talk with children about school violence.
We see positive action in our community with programs such as Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) and All-Stars in elementary schools. Teachers help students who may be falling behind or encourage older students to explore future career options. Teachers and people who work with juvenile offenders are learning about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and trauma-informed care. The Center for Counseling and Consultation champions mental health. Community members have spent thousands of dollars to buy bicycles as incentives for children to have perfect school attendance. Church members volunteer to help with youth groups. Our city offers the Youth Academy and events such as community kickball games are organized by Youth Crew, which is just one committee of the Central Kansas Partnership. Walmart furnished the Great Bend Police Department with sports equipment so officers can interact with young community members in a positive way. The Core Community helps individuals learn to break a cycle of poverty. Part of the Central Kansas Dream Center’s mission is to help integrate individuals in rehab back into the community.
Even in our prisons, society hasn’t given up on individuals who need to learn to be part of the fabric of society. At Ellsworth Correctional Facility, inmates on Wednesday celebrated earning degrees from Barton Community College.
Paul Zamarripa at the Great Bend Recreation Commission worked for years with residents at the Larned Juvenile Correctional Facility until it closed in 2017. He said he’s seen several troubled youths who could have turned out like Salvador Ramos in Texas. Some went on to commit more crimes and are in prison. But sometimes, something changed and they came out better human beings. It started with a relationship and a realization that no matter what pain had been inflicted on them, these individuals could choose to break the cycle.
None of this will matter to a certain type of person – to the next Salvador Ramos. Others may be able to offer solutions. At least we can look at the things we are doing right, perhaps with a goal to do more to support one or more of the afore-mentioned efforts or something of our own choosing. Those of us in the mainstream can almost universally point to someone who helped us find a better path, learn empathy, and develop strong, positive attachments. For those helpers, we are grateful and are determined to follow in their footsteps.
