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Acceptable Losses!
Another School Shooting After Which Nothing Will Change
As I write this, the airwaves are flooded with the nation’s most recent school shooting at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, WI. There are three known dead at this moment and several injured, including at least one person with life-threatening injuries. The school shooting problem to the degree it exists here is unique to America. Nowhere else where these incidents have occurred is the plan to do nothing except offer thoughts and prayers.
To be sure, America has improved post-shooting protocols so that everyone knows what’s expected in the aftermath. Local officials know to look for the designation of a reunification center where families can meet up with the surviving children. Press conferences are set up with representatives from state and local governments and the FBI. Counselors are arranged for the survivors, flowers are delivered to a memorial site, and social media is littered with posts from elected officials expressing their sorrow.
There is one new trend. We’ve gotten better at placing blame, often in the wrong place. Mental health is blamed and we’re now prepared to throw parents under the bus for their failure to supervise their children and prevent access to guns. We’ve “hardened schools” and provided more resource officers and armed some…
