Unseen victims

Bullying in schools should get more urgent attention. If bullying happened outside of school and the parents were notified, the police usually would be called. Are these consequences occurring in the schools?

We have witnessed an increase in active school shootings. Take, for example, the shooting at Heritage High

School. Are our schools really informing their students about the gravity of the situation? Why do they think that putting it in a handbook is sufficient? Let us face it, how many teenagers read this school handbook? I am guessing it is nearly 0%.

Rather than appropriately fighting for victims of harassment and physical abuse in schools, school administrators have chosen to push the issue under the rug over time. I have visited my children’s schools. Because of COVID-19 rules, the Newport News school district does not allow students to utilize lockers and instead requires them to carry their book bags, and the metal detectors had dust on them. Isn’t this a worry for everyone’s safety? Following COVID-19 protocols or dealing with an active shooter, which is more dangerous?

Regarding these children who become active shooters, I am not sure who is to blame. Is it their parents who are letting them down? What about the educational and legal systems? Why are these people not to blame for enabling such anguish to befall these innocent souls? These are also the children of our future, and they are not sinister. Instead, they are the unseen victims of our society, whose existence is unknown until it makes the news headlines. Where is the justice for them?

Jennifer Kudlicki, Newport News