By James B. Ewers Jr. Ed.D.
The month of January has always been viewed as a time for new beginnings. We put away the old and start afresh with the new. It gives us hope for the dawning of a new day.
There are some people who are getting new jobs during the month of January while others are getting promotions. If you are a student and starting the second semester, you are set to make good grades that will earn you a scholarship. Teachers have had a break, so they are ready to impart knowledge and wisdom.
If you have retired, you are probably planning a trip for fun and relaxation. You are finding new things to do and old friends to visit. Some retirees have found physical fitness and dance classes to stay fit. However as joyous and intentional as we are about new goals and dreams some things for the new year remain the same.
School shootings happened throughout last year. Each time there were proposed remedies and solutions. Public officials pledged their support and, in some states school budgets were amended to support school safety.
According to the organization, Education Week, there were 37 school shootings in America last year. These shootings left 74 people killed or injured. Sadly, schools have become targets for would be shooters.
They are no longer the safe havens for children and teachers that they once were. What happened? Our society seemingly changed from caring to callous. Being tender with the young has now turned into being treacherous with them. Schools, once building blocks for the future are slowly turning into crumbling stones for our children.
What does the year 2024 look like so far? It doesn’t look good. Just last week, there was a school shooting in the state of Iowa. The small community of Perry, Iowa not far from Des Moines, Iowa has the unenviable distinction of having the 1st school shooting in America this year. Mind you, its January!
Dylan Butler, the shooter killed a 6th grade student and injured 4 students and a school administrator. This tragedy happened at Perry High School. Butler died of a self-inflicted gunshot. He was 17 years of age. It leads to the question, what is a teenager doing with a gun?
Sadness now grips the city of Perry, Iowa. Governor Kim Reynolds called the shooting a senseless tragedy. Mitch Mortvedt, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said, “Butler made a number of social media posts
around the time of the shooting”. It is scary to think that Butler was giving people a step by step unfolding of this heinous act. However, this is what he did in my opinion.
He was armed with a pump-action shotgun and a small-caliber handgun according to reports. Information has still not been revealed about how Butler acquired the guns.
There is a strange and sad irony to the school shooting in Iowa. The Iowa Caucus will take place on January 15th. Many Republicans have been lukewarm when it comes to sponsoring gun control legislation. They seem to want no changes in the laws.
It will be interesting to see whether the Iowa shooting is a part of the discussions at the caucus sites. The polls show that the former president is leading in the polls by a wide margin. Does he have a position on gun violence? Probably not as he is busy talking about the 2020 election.
Guns are too accessible in this country. What will tilt the scales and make legislators pass gun control legislation? How many children will have to lose their lives before lawmakers pass stronger laws?
Now the families of those assaulted will grieve and be stricken with fear. The 6th grader who lost his life will not be in school next week. His seat will be empty and he won’t be on the playground. Oh America, we can’t go on this way.
Dr. James B. Ewers, Jr. is a long- time educator who hails from Winston Salem, N.C. One of the top tennis players in the state, he was inducted into the Black Tennis Hall of Fame in January 2021. A graduate of Johnson C. Smith University, he received his M. A. degree in Education from Catholic University in Washington, DC, and Ed. D. degree in Education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, MA. He has also done post-doctoral studies at Harvard University and Ewers is a life member of the NAACP and a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity.
