Governor Abbott submitted a call to the Texas Education Agency to make schools safer after 19 children and two teachers were killed at Robb Elementary in Uvalde. In this call, he requested that school districts a) identify actions to make the campuses more secure prior to the new school year; b) to conduct weekly inspections of exterior doors to verify they are secure during school hours; and c) develop strategies to encourage school districts to increase the presence of trained law enforcement officers and school marshals on campuses.
I applaud the governor for the $5 million investment to establish a family resiliency center in Uvalde that will provide psychological, crisis counseling and other health services for those affected by the massacre. What I found missing in Abbott’s call was any plan to support people before the crisis occurs.
In the aftermath of most school, church or public shootings, the news typically reports the instigator had previously known at-risk behaviors: an unhealthy home environment, bullied, isolated, etc. From my perspective people slip through the cracks because there are insufficient family-resiliency resources to help kids, adults, or their families long before a tragedy.
