Research has found that survivors of school shootings need years to heal, and their recovery can cost them education and employment opportunities.
The May 24 massacre of 19 fourth-graders and two adults at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas, is the latest in an uptick of school shootings since December 2012, when a gunman stormed into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. and opened fire. After 12 terrifying minutes, 20 first graders and six adults had died.
The following year, a commentary in Disaster Health described school shootings as a “rare and extreme event.” The authors noted that although firearm deaths in the U.S. were common, school shootings were “sporadic and few.”