Children return to school with lessons in math, grammar -- and how to survive a school shooting. With each act of gun violence, they see that the adults in charge tolerate a political system unwilling to address it. "CBS Evening News" co-anchor John Dickerson explains.

Minneapolis

The article explores the profound impact of gun violence on children in American schools, focusing on how safety drills and the threat of shootings have become a routine part of student life. It describes how children, who should be learning basic academic and social skills, are now also taught to hide from potential gunmen, marking a significant shift in the school experience.

The narrative highlights the emotional and psychological burden placed on students, as well as the perceived failure of adults and the political system to address the root causes of gun violence. The article underscores that, while children should be mastering cooperation and enjoying their formative years, they are instead forced to confront the reality of violence and the lack of effective action to ensure their safety.

The price children pay for inaction on gun violence

Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them. For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. That Bible verse from Matthew is about welcome and protection. But in America, the welcome at school now begins with a different kind of preparation, a section in the parent's handbook about what to do, who to call, drills for children who are still learning the multiplication tables. At that age, they are just learning how to sound out words, how to share crayons, how to line up without jostling, how to raise a hand before speaking. They also learn how to hide from a gunman. Today, for Annunciation Catholic School, that training became necessary. They were at Mass, one of the ways we mark new beginnings in the fall, along with a fresh backpack, new clothes, and the sight of faces you missed all summer. Now these students have been initiated into another ritual, the American communion of violence. At eight, the age of one of the victims, you're memorizing multiplication tables. At ten, the age of the other, you're learning fractions, grammar, punctuation. At both ages, you are supposed to be mastering cooperation, not survival. You're supposed to play hide-and-seek for fun. This is now a second generation growing up knowing they might die at school. And with each shooting, they see that the adults in charge tolerate a political system, whether in laws or in mental health care or in personal responsibility, unwilling to address the violence. From sacrament to sacrilege, from communion to rupture, from students offering thoughts and prayers to being the subject of them, the children pay the price for the national failure to address this reality. The scripture books in the pews where those little children in their new green uniforms hid their rubbery limbs have words for the way adults have failed them. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. Peace, peace, they say, when there is no peace.

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Breakdown