
Volume 30 - Number 1 - Fall 2023
Pages: 1 - 137
Elovitz, P. H. (2023). Fearing for our children in our anxious, gun-crazy society. Clio’s Psyche, 30(1), 36-37.
Fearing for Our Children in Our Anxious, Gun-Crazy Society
accidental shootings, children, community, fear, gun culture, mass shootings, psychohistory, school shootings, suicide
Again, it was with sadness and fear for our children that I read the headline, “Oakland [NJ] School Board Funds Hiring for More Police.” The national focus on the terrible mass and school shootings has filtered down to elementary schools. In this quiet middle-class suburban community where my kids went to elementary school, the chances of a school shooting are extremely low, but taxpayers will now be paying for four fully-armed police officers in elementary schools to reassure the local parents and community that their political leaders are making them safe.
In “gun crazy” America, we have more gun deaths than the rest of the entire developed world and the majority of people who die from guns are by suicide. The officers carrying guns provide the message in this sleepy suburban town that to be safe, you need a gun—but that’s the wrong message! Whenever there is a mass or school shooting, people go out to buy guns, which ultimately leads
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to an increase in suicides and accidental tragic shootings. Putting students and staff through “active shooter drills” spreads fear among staff and students alike. While I carried a gun as a draftee in the U.S. Army and as a security guard protecting a major arms manufacturer to support my family while earning a doctoral degree, I hated these weapons for the death they represented. In writing, I even avoid using “bullet points.”
The way of reducing mass and school shootings is to greatly reduce the number of guns in society. I am fearful, angered, and saddened that we Americans continue to do just the opposite.
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How to cite this article
Elovitz, P. H. (2023). Fearing for our children in our anxious, gun-crazy society. Clio’s Psyche, 30(1), 36-37.



