Sadly, another school shooting happened Wednesday in Arlington, Texas. The shooting took place following an altercation in the classroom where one teenage boy (Simpkins) retaliated after earlier being bullied and robbed after school. Schools are not safe. Children are not being protected by those who should be protecting them.
Of course the ones who should protect the children deflect responsibility and blame the "open carry" laws in Texas, but I want to get back to the real reason for the shooting; the bullying that the school officials were aware of:
"Cinthy Wheat, Simpkins' cousin, said he had been bullied and was robbed about a week ago by a group of kids. She said that the robbery did not occur on school property but that Timberview [school] was aware of the bullying." https://news.yahoo.com/family-teen-suspect-texas-high-170911343.html?fr=yhssrp_catchall
The article goes on to say the suspect took the gun to school because he was trying to "protect himself." I have so many questions and the first is, "Why should he have to protect himself?" Often, "protection" is the primary reason why school shootings have been increasing across America. The known cause to most shootings is unprotected students studying in unsafe environments (aka: schools).
Many parents compare a bullying environment of today to the bullies of the past where we used to stick out our tongues and say, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Unfortunately, when this young man was ganged up on by several individuals and robbed (the details of that are uncertain), this type of assault is not corrected by a nursery rhyme. Simpkins was the victim of a crime, and as a victim, someone from the school should have expelled the assailant students from school pending an investigation and reported the crime to the police. Did this happen? I doubt it because there was a fight that broke out in the classroom moments prior to the shooting.
The results of removing school police from campuses, downsizing law enforcement, school officials refusing parental involvement, and overwhelmed students are left to fight against the abuse of the bullies on their own. If schools would be more proactive in securing the safety of their students and if parents would take a more proactive approach to ensuring their children are safe, maybe we would have less shootings.