Earlier this month, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, was tragically shot in what police described as a targeted attack in Manhattan. The story totally dominated national headlines for days, with media outlets dissecting every single angle: Who could be responsible? What was the motive? How does this even fit into broader concerns about safety for high-profile execs? Even here at Valley Girl News, we published two articles because clearly it was something people found interesting.
Now, compare that with two school shootings that happened in the USA around the same time. On December 4, a shooting in Nashville at Parkside High School left three students aged 14, 15 and 16 injured. Just a day later, on December 5, there was this horrific shooting in California at the Feather River School of Seventh-Day Adventists, where a student opened fire during a lunch period. Thankfully, no one was killed, but two students were seriously injured, and the chaos forced a full evacuation of the school. The local community was, like, totally devastated, and parents were left demanding answers about how this could happen yet again. Sure, these incidents got some coverage, but like, not nearly the same wall-to-wall drama as the CEO story.
It really makes you wonder: Have Americans all just grown numb to gun violence in schools? Or, like, is it even worse—have we become indifferent?
The fact that these school shootings barely made headlines—and then basically disappeared from the news cycle within hours—is such a bigger issue. Like, school shootings aren’t shocking anymore; they’re just this awful, grim part of everyday life in America.
The numbers are insane. The 2021–22 school year had, wait for it, 327 school shootings. That’s literally the highest number since tracking started in 2000. And yet, no matter how often it happens, each new incident gets less and less attention—both from the public and the media.
School shootings—which used to be front-page news that sparked national outrage—now have to compete with every other thing in our endless news cycle. Local stations might cover the immediate aftermath, but by the next morning’s headlines? It’s like it never even happened. And this whole desensitization thing? It’s super dangerous because it means there’s, like, zero urgency to tackle the actual causes of the problem.
Now, let’s talk about the media priorities here, because wow. The death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO—which, yes, is totally tragic—got so much more attention than those school shootings. Like, corporate America’s safety concerns are important, for sure, but aren’t the lives of kids and teachers kind of, I don’t know, more vital to the national conversation?
Part of this is probably just how the media decides what’s gonna “sell.” A high-profile CEO being targeted? Super unusual and sensational. But a school shooting? Ugh, it’s, like, tragically predictable. And that’s the most depressing part: the idea that school shootings are now just seen as “predictable” enough to not even be newsworthy.
As media critic Jay Rosen said, “What’s predictable in news is no longer news.”
So, are we numb, or are we indifferent?
Think about it: When Columbine happened in 1999, it was this massive, game-changing moment that pushed people into action and sparked demands for change. Now, in 2024, shootings like the ones in Nashville and California barely stir up any outrage. If this is numbness, how do we, like, snap out of it? And if it’s indifference, how do we even start confronting it?
As a society, we can’t afford to act like this is normal. Schools should be, like, safe havens—not battlegrounds. The real question is: Is America ready to do what needs to be done to treat them that way?
What do you think? Have Americans all just tuned out school shootings? Or is it even darker than that—have we decided that this is just the awful price we’re willing to pay for doing nothing about gun control? Yeah, it’s uncomfortable to ask, but, like, we have to face it.
XOXO,
Valley Girl News
