New York [US], June 9: Violence in U.S. schools has been on the rise since students returned to the classroom from the COVID-19 pandemic, while school leaders and experts around the country have reported an unprecedented number of guns in schools and climbing threats, reported The Washington Post on Wednesday.
The most recent case in point was a young father and his teenage son, who were killed on Tuesday when a gunman opened fire at a high school graduation ceremony in Virginia.
Shawn Jackson, 18, and his dad Renzo Smith, 36, died during the attack that left at least five others injured on Virginia Commonwealth University's Monroe Park campus.
"The country averaged about 11 school shootings a year through 2017," said the report. "Starting in 2018, violent incidents began climbing, and in 2022 there were more school shootings -- 46 -- than in any year since at least 1999."
There have been 380 school shootings in the United States since the Columbine High massacre in 1999 in Columbine, Colorado, with 12 students and one teacher murdered, it added.
Source: Xinhua