school shooting

From arming teachers to corporate tax breaks: Tennessee’s new, extreme laws

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From arming teachers to corporate tax breaks: Tennessee’s new, extreme laws

Tennessee’s Republican-dominated legislature passed conservative laws this year, including allowing teachers to arm themselves in class. Other bills included providing government-funded vouchers to private schools, tax breaks to corporations, civil penalties for aiding minors with abortion, and restricting library materials. The state also passed a bill allowing public school teachers and staff to carry guns.

Most US teachers worry about school shootings, survey finds

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Most US teachers worry about school shootings, survey finds

– A Pew Research Center survey of about 2,500 teachers showed that more than half of them were at least somewhat concerned and another 18% were extremely or very worried about the possibility of a shooting at their school.
– Gun control and school safety have become major political and social issues in the U.S. where the number of school shootings has jumped in recent years.
– There were 912 school shootings between 2021 and 2023, more than three times as many as any other three year-period in four decades of data collection.
– The survey indicated that 31% of teachers in urban schools had a gun-related lockdown during the 2022-23 school year, 10 percentage points higher than teachers in both suburban and rural schools.
– Only three out of 10 teachers indicated that their school had done an excellent or very good job preparing them for an active shooter.
– More than three-fifths of teachers surveyed said improved mental health screening and treatment for children and adults would be extremely or very effective at preventing shootings.

Parents of Michigan school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years in prison

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Parents of Michigan school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years in prison

The parents of a Michigan teen who shot and killed four classmates were sentenced to between 10 and 15 years in prison for manslaughter. The father purchased the handgun as a Christmas present for the teen just days before the shooting, and the parents ignored signs of their son’s deteriorating mental health and potential for violence. The parents were the first to be charged with manslaughter in a school shooting carried out by one of their children, setting a precedent for holding gun-owning parents more accountable for school violence.

Finnish police say bullying was motive for school shooting

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Finnish police say bullying was motive for school shooting

A 12-year-old boy in Finland shot and killed a fellow sixth-grader and injured two others at a school near Helsinki. The boy explained that he was a target of bullying, which was the motive for his attack. He brought a relative’s revolver to the school and threatened other students. Flags flew at half-mast as the country mourned the victim’s death. Finland has seen a rise in bullying in schools, with 8.6% of pupils around 12 years old reporting being targeted at least once a week. The revolver used in the attack belonged to a relative of the suspect, and police are investigating how the boy obtained the weapon.

Three 12-year-olds wounded in Finland school shooting, child suspect caught

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Three 12-year-olds wounded in Finland school shooting, child suspect caught

Three 12-year-old children were shot and wounded at a school in Finland, with the suspect also being 12 years old. The shooting took place at the Viertola school in Vantaa, a suburb of Helsinki. The victims were taken to the hospital, and the suspect was taken into custody. Finland has had previous school shootings, leading to stricter gun legislation in 2010.