Kids Killing Kids
The horror of pistol—packing students—and what to do about them.
by Cecil E. Maranville
Savage, random shootings repeatedly terrorized
people over the past year. As shocking as the deeds themselves, was
the identity of the perpetrators-not masked madmen, but mere boys,
students of the public schools of the United States!
The potential for this kind of nightmarish
violence is disturbingly widespread. One survey's findings "suggest
that for every classroom of 30 students, in every school
building in America, on average one student has attended school
with a gun in grades six through 12" (Gun "Nightmare" Gets Better,
But Still a Reality For Schools, © 1998 MSNBC, Friday,
June 19, 1998) (emphasis ours throughout.).
Overtones of shock, perplexity, fear and
desperation spoke through news reports as the incidents of school shootings
mounted throughout the school year of 1997-98. Why is this happening?
Who is responsible? What can be done to stop it?
School and community officials, along with
politicians at all levels, have banded together with parents in a common
sense of urgency to make schools safe again. While numerous solutions
or partial solutions have been suggested with great passion, none offers
an obvious or certain fix. Soberly, circumstances augur more of the
same for the 1998-99 school year, with more kids killing kids.
The Profile of a Gun-Toting
Student
What profile does a gun-toting student
fit? "Students who said they carried a gun were:
Less likely to live with both parents…
More likely to be in trouble with the
police…
More likely to join gangs…
Less likely to get good grades…" (ibid.).
Related Information on UCG Sites:
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