US schools turn into deadly battlegrounds

Two teenage brothers, 18 and 19, in Texarkana, Texas, have been charged with murder after they shot dead a 17-year-old schoolmate last Monday. The shooting followed a dispute in a high school earlier that day.

Three students and one recent graduate of one school alone, Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia, were shot in the space of a few days last month, resulting in three deaths.

The National School Boards Association wrote to US President Joe Biden seeking help at the end of September, citing attacks against school board members and educators from some parents.

The US Department of Homeland Security issued an alert this year before schools were reopened to raise public awareness of the risks of school violence because students and adults may have been exposed to risk factors during the pandemic, including isolation and financial stress.

The emotional damage some students suffered from pandemic lockdowns seems to manifest at school, as the Department of Homeland Security predicted, and as the rising violence in schools suggests.

Everytown for Gun Safety, a group that favors tighter gun restrictions, reported that there had been at least 127 shootings on school grounds nationally in the year to Wednesday, resulting in 26 deaths and 76 injuries. About 56 of these shootings happened in August and September, compared with 22 in the same period in 2019.

There have been several school-related shootings in the city of Philadelphia recently. Following the four shootings last month, a fight outside Abraham Lincoln High School on Oct 18 led to gunshots that killed a 65-year-old passerby and severely injured a 16-year-old student.

On Thursday the Philadelphia school district announced a plan to protect students. Officials said they will give $750,000 to community organizations to pay for increased supervision of students on their way to and from school. That is in addition to an earlier decision to increase police patrols in 25 safety zones surrounding schools in high-crime areas.

Fathers stepping in

In Shreveport, Louisiana, fathers of students at one high school stepped in to help keep the order after chaos broke out. Over three days recently there were violent clashes among students at Southwood High School, with 23 students arrested.

Michael La'Fitte formed Dads on Duty, a volunteer group of about 40 fathers who line the halls of the school in shifts to keep order.

In the past week, threats of school shootings have been popping up on social media such as Snapchat and TikTok from Texas to Florida, New Mexico, California and elsewhere across the country. The threats have prompted various alert bulletins and left students and educators anxious and scared.

A TikTok challenge in October called "Slap a Teacher" encouraged students to slap a teacher or any staff member, run away before getting caught, film the process and load the video online.

Educators have also faced the threat of violence in schools because of conflict over various issues that have become politicized. In September the school boards association asked Biden for federal help, citing attacks mostly by parents against school board members and educators for approving policies for masks or perceived teaching of critical race theory.

The letter documented more than 20 instances of threats, harassment and acts of intimidation in many states.

On Oct 4 the federal Attorney General Merrick Garland directed federal authorities to hold strategy sessions over the following 30 days with law enforcement to address the issues the school boards association had raised.

However, Republican lawmakers criticized Garland, saying he had gone too far, and on Wednesday the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing at which the directive was examined.

The school boards association has since said "we regret and apologize" for the letter asking for federal help to monitor threat levels and assess risks to students, educators, board members and school buildings".