LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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.
For example why not fund more qualified school counselors, psychologists, or health providers? Then create a process for teachers, parents and students to refer the at-risk people who need help. This would be especially critical for those with insufficient money to seek professional, individual help.
My question is, “How many lives could be saved if we have these health resources in place before the crisis ever happens?”
Some form of gun control is in probably in the spectrum of needs to prevent massacres. However, I submit even more important than gun control is to have more school counselors, crisis counseling, and psychological resources available to prevent such massacres from ever happening. Until the public demands these resources, the problem will go unsolved.
In the words of my daddy, “Take care of the snake before it bites you.”
Respectfully,
Hilda V. Carpenter, PhD