Class Dismissed

There’s a common TV trope where shows start with the end and then spend the rest of the episode unfurling the content that took place in the hours before that “ending.” I’m going to deploy that trope now. Here’s what’s going to happen as a result of yet another insanely tragic and tragically insane school shooting. Nothing. This is America’s most popular and sickly unique story. Don’t take my word for it. Listen to Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, died in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. “I guess it’s something in society we know will happen again, over and over.” Even Sandy Hook didn’t change anything. But there’s plenty more evidence. Here’s a chronological list of school shootings in the United States since the year 2000. I should warn you that your trigger finger might get sore from all the scrolling, so you might want to use your non-shooting hand. The last school shooting on the list (for now) is the one that took place in Uvalde. The Texas child massacre was the second-deadliest school shooting on record. Spoiler alert: it won’t hold that spot forever. We know that because this is what America is. Societal sociopathy is our brand. Our national pastime is letting kids be killed and doing nothing about it. Just check the numbers. Firearms are now the leading cause of death for U.S. children.

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