Here is a sobering statistic about gun violence in this country: The Washington Post unveiled new statistics that show 2018 has been deadlier for our nation’s children than for our servicemen and servicewomen who are deployed overseas.
So many children have died in the United States in school shootings so far this year that their death toll now outnumbers that of American deaths during military deployment during the same time period.
The Post cited reports released by the Department of Justice, 13 service members have been killed during deployment in 2018.
Overall, 27 children have died in mass shootings so far this year. This means that twice as many kids have died in school shootings than military members deployed overseas.
(The Post noted in an update to its original article that an additional 29 service members have been killed in training exercises, such as aircraft crashes, and that would make the military deaths higher.)
Does this mean that it is more dangerous to be a school kid in America than an active-duty soldier? Not exactly.
The Post was careful to clarify that there are vastly more students in America than there are men and women in the armed forces.
Hence, a higher death toll does not necessarily mean that being a student is more dangerous. In fact, it calculated that a person in the military is 50 times more likely to die than a child in a school shooting.
Still, the numerous school shooting incidents so far this year point to a serious problem in our nation.
Last year saw a number of school shootings, but according to Department of Defense releases cited by the Post, 2017 still had a much higher incidence of military deaths.
In other words, the fact that 2018 has currently been deadlier for American students so far than for deployed military members is shocking and deeply important.
As the Post put it, “2018 is shaping up to be unusually deadly at schools.”
Other scary statistics bear out the fact that gun violence is a serious problem in this nation.
An analysis by CNN found that the United States has 57 times more school shootings than every other industrialized nation combined. (That is, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.)
As of May 18, America has already endured 22 school shootings. That means that on average, we experience about one school shooting per week as a nation.
These grievous numbers are hard to take in, but they can help us understand the breadth and depth of our nation’s problem with gun violence.
Teachers Returned To Work This Week
Less than a week after a student opened fire and killed 10 people at Santa Fe High School in Texas, teachers are returning to work this week.
Teachers and administrators are getting back to work “to support each other and prepare for our students’ return,” said Leigh Wall, superintendent of the Santa Fe Independent School District.
Instead of reporting to the high school where the shooting took place, they’ll be working at the school district’s headquarters.
Wall said students are schedule to return early next week and will have access to “counseling assistance from many state and local agencies.” She said they will also see an increased law enforcement presence on campus.