Mass Shooting Spree Comes at Terrifying Time for Schools
On 5/4/21 at 6:23 AM EDT
As children return to the classroom after a year of home learning due to the pandemic, schools will settle back into their old routines; timetables, extracurricular clubs, homework assignments, sports, and of course the morbid necessity of active shooter drills.
The past year has also seen record gun sales in the U.S., increasing the access to firearms in the homes of many children. And research shows COVID lockdowns have wreaked an appalling toll on youth mental health.
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Newsweek.
It s no surprise that the pandemic coincided with a lull in school shooting incidents.
A California man who federal prosecutors said derived sexual pleasure from psychologically torturing children because of his crimes extorting minors in the Indianapolis area was sentenced Friday to 75 years in prison.
Buster Hernandez, 30, of Bakersfield, California, pleaded guilty in federal court last year to 41 counts, including coercion and enticement of a minor, production of child pornography and threats to kill, kidnap and injure, according to court documents. He took what was supposed to be the most pivotal years from my life. He stole them, he tried to destroy me, diminish me, and almost succeeded, one of the young victims said during his sentencing hearing Friday. At the end of the day there are wounds that will never heal and psychological damage and trauma that will haunt me to my grave.