LINK Yet another school mass shooting YLE 03/28/2023
Katelyn Jetelina
Public health touches on all aspects of our lives, not just during a pandemic and not just with infectious diseases. Thanks to your feedback, this newsletter will continue with COVID updates but touches on other public health topics, too. To choose what topics land in your inbox, click HERE.
I wrote a post last night about evidenced-based solutions to mass shootings in schools. There are things we can do for our kids. Then I deleted it. Then I rewrote it. Then I was just mad about the whole situation and stopped. I need time before jumping into a space of solutions. I figured your inbox may need that, too.
In the meantime, I’ll leave you with the following.
Firearms are the leading cause of death for American children
There have been a total of 130 mass shootings this year— more than the number of calendar days. Before Nashville, 33 incidents of gunfire have occurred at schools resulting in 8 deaths in 2023. (In 2022, there were 177 events resulting in 57 deaths.)
Altogether, firearm injuries (at and away from school) are the leading cause of death among children in the U.S. It surpassed motor vehicle crashes in 2020 for the first time.
We are failing our children.
Figure from Goldstick et al., New England Journal of Medicine. Source here
The collective trauma is also real. Among survivors of school shootings, prescriptions of antidepressants (understandably) increases. In addition, a national poll found that 3 in 5 teenagers worry about a shooting happening at their school. This increases immediately following a mass school shooting.
None of us are immune. And we should not become immune.
Resources
For those looking for immediate resources, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network developed the following fantastic resources:
Talking to Children about the Shooting
Helping Youth After Community Trauma: Tips for Educators (En Español)
Talking to Children: When Scary Things Happen (En Español)
Talking to Teens about Violence (En Español),
Previous posts
Below are previous YLE posts that are as relevant today as they were before. I hope they help you feel empowered. There are solutions and paths forward, albeit slow.
We can reduce gun violence in the U.S. —We’ve done hard public health things before.
It’s hard to explain (and fix) evil—But, it’s not mental illness. Focusing solely on it largely avoids confronting the real, more complicated causes.
Firearms: What you can do right now —There’s a lot.
Epidemiology of Mass Shootings —You’ll notice the Nashville tragedy follows some, but not all patterns of previous school mass shootings.
Bottom line
Take care of yourselves. I know I’ll be hugging my kids extra tight. Solutions to come.
Love, YLE
“Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE)” is written by Dr. Katelyn Jetelina, MPH PhD—an epidemiologist, data scientist, wife, and mom of two little girls. During the day she works at a nonpartisan health policy think tank and is a senior scientific consultant to a number of organizations, including the CDC. At night she writes this newsletter. Her main goal is to “translate” the ever-evolving public health science so that people will be well equipped to make evidence-based decisions. This newsletter is free thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members.
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8 comments
Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.Another Proud Moment for The Ammosexuals of the nra!!!
GipsyOfNewSpain
Level 9
Mar 29, 2023
2
"She" (the shooter) had both X and Y chromosomes...like most of the other AR15-wielding mass murderers.
Flyingsaucesir
Level 8
Mar 29, 2023
3
She didn't have an ar15.
@Smurfing101 "She" had two AR15-style rifles. Apparently, one was an AR15.
[cnn.com]
[independent.co.uk]
@Flyingsaucesir it was a sub 2000. Why listen to a dipshit in a suit, who would confuse a revolver with a glock. Of the 3 weapons there one is considered an ar15 not the other 2
@Smurfing101 OK. So?
The main pattern it broke from is that the shooter was a trans female (from what I hear). Everyone's getting in on the act of shooting children now but, at least, we can't only blame white males (though it can be argued that she was a male so still is). I think it hilarious that we not only can't protect children in school but keep sending them to these death camps while wringing our hands about our inabilities.
rainmanjr
Level 8
Mar 29, 2023
2
It's the NRA lobbying candidates with money. Candidates are as addicted to their money as a crack addict is to meth.
"The majority of Americans support stronger gun laws — laws that are proven to reduce deaths. But in 2019, the NRA spent $3.22 million to benefit the political campaigns of senators who oppose gun safety legislation. In 2020, they spent $2.20 million. These senators refuse to support common-sense gun reform, like expanding Brady Background Checks and banning assault weapons."
[elections.bradyunited.org]
"The NRA is among the most influential advocacy groups in U.S. politics.[9][10][11] The NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA) is its lobbying division, which manages its political action committee (PAC), the Political Victory Fund (PVF). Over its history, the organization has influenced legislation, participated in or initiated lawsuits, and endorsed or opposed various candidates at local, state, and federal levels. Some notable lobbying efforts by the NRA-ILA are the Firearm Owners Protection Act, which lessened restrictions of the Gun Control Act of 1968, and the Dickey Amendment, which blocks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) from using federal funds to advocate for gun control."
[en.wikipedia.org]
K9Kohle
Level 6
Mar 29, 2023
4
There will be no stopping this entertainment/game of murdering people, that the perpetrators have never met, or have any knowledge of, until they are viciously dealt with. PUT A STOP TO IT!!! Public hangings, or whatever it takes. Why is it the victim is the only one that gets "capital punishment"?
Diogenes
Level 8
Mar 29, 2023
3
The perpetrators are usually attention-seeking and suicidal, so I don't see how public execution would be a deterrent.
@Flyingsaucesir It is certain that they are "'attention seekers"- but their cognitive ability to think past the 'joy' of the murder is non-existent. I do not believe most of them are suicidal-- how are they going to murder more people if they are dead?
@Diogenes The vast majority of mass shootings end with the killing of the shooter. This is common knowledge, and would not be lost on anyone planning a mass shooting. Shooters do not expect to survive. That's why they tend to leave written manifestos (as this last one apparently did).
I don't think joy has any role in the mass shooter's killing. If it did, they wouldn't they do it covertly, try to get away with it, so they could do it again and again? But that's not what they do. Instead, they put themselves into a situation from which there is no escape. It's essentially suicide by cop.
@Flyingsaucesir And your last paragraph has to do with their profound stupidity.
D.J. Trump is such a moron that every time he flaps his yap, he does the impossible; he makes a bigger fucking ass of himself. No one is forcing him to do this- but he does not have the cognitive ability to look forward- or stop. Yes, Dump is off topic, but he is an excellent example of a 'non-thinker'.
I worked on a job where one loon's driving was far into insanity. His fiery death wasn't "suicide by cop" either--- it was 'suicide by stupidity".
@Diogenes Trump is stupid, yes, but he's also crafty. He has gotten away with a lot, and that takes a certain kind of talent. It's not that I respect him; I don't. But it's never a good idea to underestimate your enemy. As for trannies, I'm sure the class is not monolithic. Some are smart, some are stupid. But one thing they all have in common: they're all dealing with some heavy shit.
So fucking sad
MizJ
Level 8
Mar 28, 2023
4
It will never improve in these chaotic times fear.
MizJ:
@WayneDalton There is no excuse.
@MizJ While there is definitely no acceptable valid reason for the ongoing slaughter,it will not end as long as sheeple value gains over children,and,the rest of the propaganda
avalanche in today's hate filled society .
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