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On March 28, 1891, the United States witnessed its first recorded school shooting. A man armed with a double-barreled shotgun opened fire on students and faculty during a school exhibition at the Parson Hall School House in Liberty, Mississippi. It was disturbing, shocking, and unimaginable.

Fast forward 130+ years, and what was once a rare tragedy has become America’s longest-running nightmare a horror story we replay over and over, year after year.

School shootings are no longer “unthinkable.” In America, they’ve become the norm.

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Before Columbine: The Forgotten History

Most people trace the school shooting epidemic back to Columbine High School on April 20, 1999. Two students murdered 13 people and wounded 24 more before taking their own lives. The images and footage from that day burned themselves into America’s memory.

But Columbine was not the beginning. It was the turning point.

Before Columbine, there had already been at least 54 school shootings in the United States.

🔺 University of Texas Clock Tower (1966): Charles Whitman killed 16 people and injured 31 more from atop the UT Austin tower.

🔺 Espanola Valley High School (1970): A former student shot and killed two teachers in New Mexico.

🔺 Thurston High School (1997): A 15-year-old killed his parents before opening fire at his school, killing two classmates and injuring 25 others.

Some of these shootings were national news. Others were quickly buried. But together, they reveal a truth we don’t like to confront: school shootings have been embedded in America’s history for over a century.

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After Columbine: A National Cycle

Since 1999, the violence has escalated into a never-ending cycle.

According to the K-12 School Shooting Database and Everytown for Gun Safety:

🔻 There have been at least 275 school shootings since Columbine.

🔻 53 shootings were recorded in 2022 alone.

🔻 36 shootings happened in 2021.

Every school year begins with the same question whispered in homes across America: Will it happen here?

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Yesterday’s Tragedy

That question was answered again just yesterday.

During a Catholic school Mass, an eight-year-old and a 10-year-old were killed, and 17 others injured in yet another senseless attack.

Think about that. Children murdered while worshipping, learning, and gathering in what should have been a safe space.

And what was the response? The same hollow routine:

🔺 Breaking news alerts.

🔺 Candlelight vigils.

🔺 Politicians standing at podiums, repeating lines we’ve all heard before.

🔺 Social media outrage that fades in 48 hours.

Then silence. Until the next tragedy.

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Mental Health or Something Deeper?

Every time, the explanation is the same: mental health.

And yes, mental health matters. But if every shooter is explained away as “mentally ill,” then what does that say about America’s mental health system? And what does it say about a society where young people grow up believing that mass murder is an option?

We’ve normalized active shooter drills for children — teaching them to hide under desks and lock classroom doors — as though that’s an actual solution. Teachers are expected to double as security guards. Parents drop their kids off at school with a silent prayer that they’ll come home alive.

And still, shooters walk in. Guns blaze. Lives end.

So what’s the point of this performance? What’s the point of a press conference if nothing changes?

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America: The World’s Sitcom

Here’s the truth we hate to admit: the rest of the world is watching, and they see us as a joke.

No other developed nation experiences school shootings on this scale. To outsiders, America looks like a dark sitcom on reruns:

🎥 Episode 1: The shooting happens.

🎥 Episode 2: The outrage, the hashtags, the interviews.

🎥 Episode 3: The candlelight vigils.

🎥 Episode 4: Silence.

Then the cycle resets. Same storyline. Different cast.

And some outsiders? They watch in fascination. They even want to be part of the chaos.

But here, it’s not entertainment. It’s children’s lives.

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A Society Desensitized

Perhaps the most disturbing part is how numb we’ve become.

Cameras rush to the scene. Kids are interviewed minutes after surviving hell — chewing gum, staring blankly, speaking without emotion, because death has become just another news cycle. Politicians give their statements. Social media trends for a few days. And then? Life moves on.

For everyone except the families left behind.

We’ve reached a point where death in schools is normalized.

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The Future: More Reruns or Real Change?

So what does the future look like? Right now, it looks like:

🔻 More drills.

🔻 More body bags.

🔻 More trauma cycles.

🔻 More fake outrage.

🔻 More politicians offering “thoughts and prayers” instead of policy.

This isn’t just about numbers. These are real lives being stolen but as a society, we treat it like background noise.

Every new school year begins with the same fear: “Will it happen here?”

And still, nothing changes. The cycle repeats. The propaganda machine rolls on. The outrage is temporary. The grief is permanent.

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Are We Not Tired Yet?

The question isn’t “when will this end?” anymore.

The real question is:

👉 Do we even care enough to make it end?

Because if not, the next school shooting isn’t a matter of if. It’s already written.

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Sources & Resources

K-12 School Shooting Database Everytown for Gun Safety – School Shootings Wikipedia: List of school shootings in the United States by death toll

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