The Trump administration’s school safety commission will examine the “culture of violence,” but not the role of guns, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told a Senate committee yesterday.
A spokesman said Congress — not the commission — has the power to regulate guns, reports the New York Times.
Among other areas, the commission is slated to examine ratings systems for video games, the consumption of “violent entertainment” and the effects of news media coverage of mass shootings. The group is also charged with considering whether to repeal a package of Obama-era school discipline policies targeted at addressing disciplinary policies that disproportionately affect minority students. The commission is also looking to fund and bolster mental health and school infrastructure resources.
Active Shooter, a video game simulating a school massacre, was retracted before its release, reports Alia Wong in The Atlantic. The game lets the player to be a SWAT officer or the gunman, she writes. “In the latter scenario, according to apparent screenshots of the game, the player-as-murderer wields a semiautomatic rifle while traversing school buildings in pursuit of civilians (presumably students and teachers) who are shown huddling in classroom corners or fleeing down flights of stairs.”
Gee, Officer Krupke. Is it the culture? The culture and the availability of guns?
I fear more resources will go into hiring armed guards rather than hiring mental-health counselors? What would make schools safer?