John Woodrow Cox, a reporter for the Washington Post, has written a new book, Children Under Fire: An American Crisis. The book deals with children who have witnessed school shootings or lost a loved one to gun violence. These children suffer from depression, nightmares, angry outbursts and have difficulty concentrating. They frequently need years of therapy and heavy medication.
According to Mr. Cox, gun trauma has affected nearly 250,000 children since the 1999 Columbine High School massacre. Between 2010 and 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) almost 30,000 children and teens were killed with firearms. Gun violence – including gun suicide – is the leading cause of death among Americans under the age of 20. These statistics do not include children who weren’t shot or physically harmed but were traumatized
Meanwhile we have created a nearly $3 billion school security industry selling bullet-proof book bags, metal detectors and bullet-proof windows which prevent students from escaping the school building. In order to aid these children, we need more well-trained school counselors, good mentors and child therapists.
I am currently revising my Creating Safe Schools Book: A Guide for School Leaders, Teachers, Counselors and Parents” to include new sections dealing with Child Anxiety, Stress, Trauma and Mass School Shootings. The working title for the new book is Preventing School Violence: A Guide for School Leaders, Teachers, Counselors, Parents and Students. The book will be available on Amazon in October 2021.