There are over 115,000 schools in the United States. In the 23 years since Columbine there have been 380 school shootings (one is too many, of course).
Any loss of life is tragic but school shootings are a lot like plane crashes: shocking, clustered loss of life. It’s the old story about 150 people dying in a plane crash gripping national (and international) media attention for days while 117 people die in car crashes EVERY DAY and they barely make the local newspaper. Oh yeah phones are a large contributor to these too…
Meanwhile, suicide is the third largest leading cause of death for people aged 15-24 (somewhere around 5,000/yr). Accidents (including cars) are by far the leading cause of death. Not to mention drugs…
School shootings are terrible and any loss of life is tragic. However, the actual statistical chances of a young person being harmed or involved in a school shooting are tiny.
I have a friend who is a high school principal and as the article describes, far more young people are harmed (up to and including suicide) by phones than guns. The sexting, constant and relentless bullying, distraction, overall device addiction, etc does far more damage to far more kids than guns (as wild as that might seem).
Thousands of adults at a time, with far more responsibility (many of whom are parents), will surrender their phones in magnetic pouches to see Dave Chapelle (as one example). Tragedy doesn’t strike when they don’t have constant and immediate access to their phones. It’s actually not the difference between life and death.
Meanwhile, asking 14 year olds (many of whom have no responsibilities other than school) to not have their phones in an environment allegedly dedicated to focus and learning for a few hours at a time receives pushback. It’s truly bizarre.
Get phones AND guns out of schools.
Any loss of life is tragic but school shootings are a lot like plane crashes: shocking, clustered loss of life. It’s the old story about 150 people dying in a plane crash gripping national (and international) media attention for days while 117 people die in car crashes EVERY DAY and they barely make the local newspaper. Oh yeah phones are a large contributor to these too…
Meanwhile, suicide is the third largest leading cause of death for people aged 15-24 (somewhere around 5,000/yr). Accidents (including cars) are by far the leading cause of death. Not to mention drugs…
School shootings are terrible and any loss of life is tragic. However, the actual statistical chances of a young person being harmed or involved in a school shooting are tiny.
I have a friend who is a high school principal and as the article describes, far more young people are harmed (up to and including suicide) by phones than guns. The sexting, constant and relentless bullying, distraction, overall device addiction, etc does far more damage to far more kids than guns (as wild as that might seem).
Thousands of adults at a time, with far more responsibility (many of whom are parents), will surrender their phones in magnetic pouches to see Dave Chapelle (as one example). Tragedy doesn’t strike when they don’t have constant and immediate access to their phones. It’s actually not the difference between life and death.
Meanwhile, asking 14 year olds (many of whom have no responsibilities other than school) to not have their phones in an environment allegedly dedicated to focus and learning for a few hours at a time receives pushback. It’s truly bizarre.
Get phones AND guns out of schools.