Although Wisconsin State Rep. Francesca Hong’s brutally honest words to Republican lawmakers may have been a bit crude for some, I think it captured the general sentiment of victims and survivors of school shootings: “F— your thoughts and prayers.” It”s not just the Republicans taking a laissez-faire stand on gun violence. This is a non partisan problem that mandates a definitive solution. The condolences ring hollow without decisive action. 

It’s a sad day in America when adults cannot guarantee the safety of their children. The official investigation into the motives of 15-year-old Natalie Rupnow is still ongoing. During the moments of unleashing terror, Natalie allegedly killed two people and wounded six others before taking her life. Her intentions may go to the grave, but we do know a lot about the environment that produced this deadly situation and others like it. Violence in this country is the first resort to solving any problem. Children and young people see the news about conflict between nation-states. 

They’ve seen the faces of sad and crying children, dislocated from their homes and families. A week before Natalie took matters into her own hands, the nation saw the CEO of a major corporation gunned down by a frustrated son who felt his mother was a suffering pawn in the deadly game of medical insurance. Today’s middle and high school students do not know a world without school shootings. 

According to the K-12 School Shootings Database, the Abundant Life shoot brought the ghastly total of school shootings to 343 this year. I prefer to use their inclusive definition because it more accurately describes the scope of the issue. That definition includes any incident when a gun has been brandished or fired at a school. Period. Exposing kids to guns or gun violence are both traumatic. 

When students have been exposed to threats or actual gun violence, their trauma is triggered every time they hear or see news about a school shooting. While the thousands of students who have experienced school violence will never be clinically diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), that is exactly what it is. Left untreated, it will haunt them for the rest of their lives. Most people in this country don’t believe we can end gun violence. So said a survey by Newsweek. That lack of confidence is both disgusting and distressing. the prevailing attitude will only mean an increase in violence, a point that has not been lost on our high school students. 

They are aggressively demanding that more be done about the proliferation of guns and the easy access to legally own them. They are telling us school no longer feels safe for them. Will we continue to ignore their physical safety and their mental security? Or will we act like empowered adults who are legally and morally responsible for the well being of our most vulnerable?