For many Norwegians, the US city of Flint, Michigan, has been known for its water scandal for nearly a decade, in which lead-poisoned water led to 12 deaths and up to 100 illnesses.
Now the city, which has a population of 80,000, is making headlines because of steps authorities are taking there in hopes of reducing the number of school shootings in the country.
Ironically, the first day of the ban ended with school shootings.
One mother shot another mother in the parking lot outside a city school.
transparent bags
according to Washington Post A grim record was broken last year, when 46 schools were launched. There are no centralized statistics, but the paper checked the numbers going back to 1999, the year the world was shaken by the Columbine massacre, and there weren’t as many cases as there were in 2022.
According to the Washington Post, since the Columbine shooting, in which 13 people were killed, there have been 380 school shootings in the country.
On Monday of this week, students arrived at Flint City Schools without backpacks. They were allowed to carry a small bag for personal items, but they had to keep their gym clothes and books in clear bags.
Backpacks make it easier for students to hide weapons, in pockets, between books or under other things, she says A letter from the school authorities for parents.
The backpack ban is in effect until the end of the school year.
The school administration is well aware that this creates challenges for both pupils and parents, and that there is also no guarantee against school shootings.
– This option does not solve the problem. School authorities say the weapons may still be hidden, also in clear bags NBC.
A recent shooting incident
At the same time that Prohibition was implemented, the city had a shooting incident – in the parking lot of a school in Flint.
Because it does not help to use clear school bags if the parents carry weapons when picking up the children.
Two parents got into an argument that ended in a shooting.
A 31-year-old woman was seriously injured after being shot by a 27-year-old woman on Monday afternoon, he wrote. WNEM.
The parents’ quarrel occurred at the same time as others arrived at the school to pick up their children.
American schoolchildren Sarah, Tala, Hamza, Lana, Yasmin and Bilal show off their so-called bulletproof schoolbags.
Photo: Rick Wilking/Reuters/NTB
metal detectors
Actions against school shootings are nothing new in the United States, several attempts have been proposed and implemented.
Transparent bags have been discussed many times, and there has also been talk of bulletproof bags. Last year, it was a topic, after a school shooting in the Texas town of Uvalde killed 21 people, he writes. Dallas Morning News.
The scale mentioned most often is entry areas with metal detectors – like in airports.
– Metal detectors and clear bags are more likely to scare children and feel like criminals. Many of the proposals appear poorly based in research, said psychology professor Amanda Nickerson, and may actually undermine the school’s healthy climate. News agency last year.
According to America National School Safety and Security Services There is no centralized overview of the number of schools that have metal detectors on a permanent basis. Some have it, and some install it if it is needed for security reasons.
Tragedy in Serbia
The alarm went off Wednesday morning in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
Eight students and a security guard were killed after a seventh grader started shooting around a school.
– My daughter was in class when the shooting started, but she got out. I saw the security guard lying under a table, and I saw two girls with blood on their shirts, says one of the fathers.
The perpetrator, a 13-year-old boy, was arrested. According to the Tanjug news agency, it is likely that he used his father’s firearm.
According to the police, the teen had an elaborate plan, including a kill list.
– Belgrade police chief Veselin Milic said that the suspect planned the shooting for a month and provided a list of the children he planned to kill.
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