What should parents think about the shooting at Oxford High School in Michigan, where police say 15-year-old Ethan Crumbley fatally shot four students and wounded seven others?
Safety is already a concern for parents because of COVID-19. But many schools have taken major steps to deal with the pandemic by requiring students to wear masks and maintain social distancing, improving air ventilation and carrying out contact tracing. Unfortunately, they have the additional worry of shootings after yet another tragedy at a school.
From school shootings and juvenile-involved carjackings to mob actions in cities, our youths are behaving in a manner that we must address collectively.
The recent op-ed I wrote, “The key takeaway from the Rittenhouse verdict? Parents need help,” was a call to action to incentivize parental involvement and help them work more effectively with their children, particularly those who display problematic behavior.
Because Crumbley allegedly displayed that kind of behavior, the prosecutors in the case have said enough already. They decided to hold his parents accountable for the crimes he’s accused of, charging them with involuntary manslaughter. Is this the new norm? Is this how we will curb reckless and dangerous behavior in our youths? Is this a paradigm shift?
As teens watch their parents summoned to court, maybe it will have a chilling effect on them, hopefully enough to change their behavior. Perhaps teens and preteens will begin to rethink their actions and understand the gravity of their behavior. Time will tell.
Unfortunately, we know more has to be done. The hearings that federal lawmakers held in October to hold leaders of Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube accountable for how our youths are being affected by social media platforms is a step in the right direction. It is an acknowledgment that we all can contribute to our youths’ development and decision-making.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention makes it clear that teens exposed to violence are more likely to carry a weapon, abuse drugs and be involved in more risky behavior. Simply put, they are seeing too much on a daily basis. They have grown numb to violence and desensitized to its impact and devastation.
Schools are in a difficult position. Providing students with an education, along with social and emotional support, is a complex mission. The influence of social media, where bullying can take place any time of day, compounds that challenge. And add to that parents’ anxiety over school shootings. The concerns that parents have are understandable and to be expected.
Schools should respond by working collectively with parents and guardians, such as making recommendations to parents when school officials see abhorrent and aggressive behavior in their children. If Crumbley’s parents had listened to the suggestions the school gave them, perhaps that would have averted a tragedy.
No matter the outcome in the legal case, the students and staff members who witnessed this horrific shooting have been traumatized by it. Also, a school shooting has a ripple effect, making us all feel a little more vulnerable.
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What’s the next step? How do we prevent this from happening again? It takes parents, policymakers, community and religious leaders, law enforcement, educators, social workers and children old enough to understand their actions, along with others, all working together and finding common ground.
As we search for answers, we must remember that we have so many youths doing the right thing. They are going to school, investing in their future and making decisions that will improve their lives. Yet their great work is being overshadowed by the actions of a growing few.
Perhaps it’s time for our conscientious youth to step up. They can rebuke the violence that they see their peers revel in. Let teens lead public service announcements, where they admonish these acts of violence. Let them say, “Enough is truly enough.”
Jerald McNair is a school administrator in South Holland School District 151.
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