Violence and Threats in Schools: Who's Responsible? by Nancy Flanagan,

"Obviously the shooter and his parents, but there are other causes of the senseless killings:"Two things—true things—are repeated endlessly in these dialogues. The 1st is that the nation exposed its true values nine years ago after the slaughter at Sandy Hook Elementary, choosing unrestricted gun ownership over the lives of children. The second is that we need a greater understanding and focus on mental health. In our schools, of course.What is often missing from these heart-wrenching discussions is the fact that schools are just like malls and movie theaters and churches and political rallies—stages for playing out what it means to be an American citizen in 2021, our deepest principles and beliefs.Despite selfless and heroic actions, despite good parenting and good teaching and due diligence on the part of school administrators and counselors—we live in a pretty ugly country right now.