First comes horror.
Then heartbreak.
Then anger.
Then a return to normalcy?
It has to stop. How many children have to die? How many families have to be destroyed? How many survivors have to be forever traumatized?
Before we do something. To. Stop. School. Massacres?
While political debates rage over gun control and automatic weapon access, while school officials tighten safety measures and while the rest of us shake our heads in disbelief, the grief-stricken bury their young. Again.
This is our national tragedy, a stain upon America’s “greatness.” What kind of society can resume normalcy again and again after this kind of horror?
When will we see real change?
Granted, we’re all tired of the great political divide. We’re all tired of arguing and getting no results. But, I have to believe, we’re more tired of living in a society where guns are more valuable than children.
And simply attributing such violence to mental illness is perfunctory and unfair to the millions of people who struggle with depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and other mental illnesses.
Geri Kerger, executive director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness DuPage (www.namidupage.org or 630-752-0066), said when tragedies such as the recent massacre in Uvalde, Texas, occur, people tend to seek simple answers for what are really complex issues.
“Unfortunately, the last week has seen numerous national leaders try to make a causal link between mental illness and mass murder, as if all horrific violence can be attributed to mental illness. Not only is that position statistically untrue, but it reinforces stigma surrounding mental illness and discourages people from seeking much needed mental healthcare,” she said.
Kerger said the vast majority of the violence in this country is committed by people who do not have a mental illness.
In fact, she added, “People with mental illness are 10 times more likely to be a victim of violence than a perpetrator.”
Mental illness, she pointed out, exists in every corner of the world, but rates of mass murder are exponentially higher in the United States.
“Violent offenders often have a multitude of factors contributing to their behavior,” she said.
Global research over the last two decades has found other factors, such as childhood abuse and trauma, drug and alcohol use/addictions, legal problems, and access to firearms all are more highly correlated to violence and mass murder than mental illness, she said.
People with mental illness commit about 4% of the violent crimes in the United States, Kerger said. Less than 2% of firearm murders are committed by someone with mental illness, she said.
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What needs to be done?
Of course, increasing mental health services and school interventions that address bullying, stress, grief and isolation while building self-esteem and coping skills will help improve mental health, she said, but all of that “is not the panacea for violence that some would like us to believe.”
We also need to address the issue of access to weapons.
“The reality is that there is no single answer to ending school violence and until we take meaningful action to reduce all of the causes, including access to firearms, we will continue to feel the heartbreak of senseless slaughter, knowing that every school in every community is vulnerable,” she said.
Robert Nolting, superintendent of Consolidated High School District 230, with schools in Orland Park, Tinley Park and Palos Hills, agreed that despite the tendency to seek simple answers, the issue is complex.
“This is a very political issue that conjures up debates over the Second Amendment, the mental health challenges we are all facing, and even political debates over the impact of the pandemic,” he said.
Schools are at the epicenter of those discussions, he added. “And we continue to be involved within our state associations to advocate for safer schools.”
Everyone, he said, needs to do their part.
“The long game for school safety is often the least discussed but is within reach for all parents, teachers and school administration. It is about the sense of community we collectively build within our schools, the level of student engagement, and the partnership between school and home when concerns arise,” he said.
It is the same formula that worked when single-room school houses were built in the 1800s, he said.
“Kids need a sense of belonging. They need strong relationships with peers, teachers and family. They need to be involved after school in activities that draw connections to others and create a sense of enjoyment in general,” he said.
“Also, kids need to be academically engaged to be hopeful for their own futures,” he said.
Schools can do better to create pathways for these important factors, he said. They can also be better at communicating with parents.
Parents can help by ensuring their kids are “goal ready” when they come to school and by being invested in their child’s engagement, he said. “Parents enforcing these expectations is crucial because ‘lone wolves’ cannot exist when kids are always around other kids in safe spaces during and after school.”
“When parents feel the schools are acting in their best interests, they will be involved and everyone benefits,” he said.
At the high school level, he said, “We need to avoid the factory model and provide resources for all kids to achieve their goals in life.”
Everyone — parents, school officials, elected officials and kids themselves — needs to invest in help, he said.
“Schools have more resources than ever and are more flexible than before to help kids socially and emotionally. Kids who harm other kids often suffer in silence. We encourage families and students to bring issues forward and to partner with us to maintain safe places for learning and growth,” he said.
In the meantime, let us pause to remember the latest round of victims. Two teachers and 19 children who entered their school one morning never to return home.
Twenty-one lives taken senselessly. Twenty-one sets of parents, siblings, grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles and friends destroyed. Countless current and past survivors, onlookers and sympathizers who have no choice but to learn to live with this tragedy and wait for it to happen again.
Eva Mireles, Irma Garcia, Amerie Jo Garza, Annabell Rodriguez, Uziyah Garcia, Nevaeh Bravo, Jacklyn Cazares, Makenna Elrod, Jose Flores Jr., Eliahna Garcia, Jayce Carmelo Luevanos, Tess Mata, Maranda Mathis, Alithia Ramirez, Layla Salazar, Maite Rodriguez, Alexandria “Lexi” Rubio, Jailah Nicole Silguero, Eliahana Cruz Torres, Rogelio Torres, Xavier Lopez.
May they rest in peace. And may the rest of us not rest until we know their deaths were not in vain.
Donna Vickroy is an award-winning reporter, editor and columnist who worked for the Daily Southtown for 38 years.