Ten years have passed since the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre that killed 20 children and six school staff – and pediatricians claim America is still failing to protect children.
The tragedy that unfolded in Connecticut a decade ago shook the country and forced influential people to reconsider federal gun protection measures.
But even as the contentious debate over gun control safeguards continued, the death toll rose — There have been 54 school shootings in the US with more than 100 deaths.
According to University of Michigan researchers, who reported in May that 4,300 children between the ages of 1 and 19 died from a gun-related injury in the first year of the pandemic, gun violence is now one of the biggest killers of children – a 30 percent jump from a year earlier.
Everytown for Gun Safety, a non-profit gun control organization, has since identified at least 1,000 incidents of school shootings, including 152 in 2022 alone.
DR Joseph Sakran, a trauma surgeon at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, told DailyMail.com: “It’s not just that we’re failing children, we’re not putting our children’s safety first.”
Gun violence is now the leading cause of death among American youth, surpassing car accidents, according to a research report
The 2012 Connecticut school shooting killed 20 students and six teachers
More common gun violence in hospitals, supermarkets and places of worship is on the rise. The growing number of gun deaths extends beyond high-profile events such as the Robb Elementary School massacre in Uvalde, Texas last May.
Dr. Sakran said: “Our country has been repeatedly traumatized by this event.”
“A lot of people take this as a hypothetical risk because they’re in their living rooms with loved ones, but you never know what community or school or loved one is going to be affected by the kind of carnage we’re going to see. “‘
Biden says the US should feel guilty for not dealing with guns a decade after the Sandy Hook massacre
President Joe Biden said, “We should feel social guilt for taking too long to address this issue,” the president said. “We have a moral obligation to make and enforce laws that can prevent these things from happening again.”
Gun violence is a uniquely American problem that kills an average of 12 children every day. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in ten gun deaths are in children and adolescents.
The scope of the problem is vast and ingrained in American society, but doctors on the front lines of the problem are optimistic that more can be done to keep children safe.
DR Cornelia Griggs, a pediatric surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital, told DailyMail.com: “The healthcare industry is embracing this issue as an urgent public health crisis and I think we’re seeing a paradigm shift in the area where it’s only 10 year of gun violence was not something you thought about in the hospital.”
“No one wants to send their child to school with the fear in their bones that their child is going to be shot on campus, but it has become normal, this idea, and we just have to live with that fear,” she added.
Gun violence is increasingly being studied as a public health crisis, as is the opioid epidemic.
That gives state and local health officials room to weigh in, including pediatric and trauma doctors, school nurses and mental health professionals.
“When we talk about gun violence from a public health perspective, it means we’re entering an era where we can expect every health care worker and everyone who interacts with patients to accept the idea that we have a role to play in ensuring the safety of to ensure our playing people.. said dr griggs
Doctors ask young patients and their parents questions about tobacco use in the home, seat belt use and other safety practices to ensure they grow up safe and healthy.
While doctors were once reluctant to address such a politicized issue, they now feel increasingly encouraged to ask about gun safety at home as well.
Dr. Griggs said, “There are so many subjects that were once considered taboo or beyond the purview of the doctor-patient, but have become our standard practice when we talk to children and families and look for potential problems because we want them to understand. . Impact on health.”
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Crystal Leahy is an author and health journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a background in health and wellness, Crystal has a passion for helping people live their best lives through healthy habits and lifestyles.
