I get there is violence and crime whether in the UK or USA. But for me, gun crime scares me more. For example the thought of some crazed man walking in a restaurant armed with a gun while I was eating with my kids is just horrific! To be shot and killed sitting there...a total sitting duck!!! At least with knife crime it's easier to disarm the perpetrator. I'm not saying at all knife crime isn't awful or deadly- I just think for me the thought with a gun is that you really don't have much of a chance do you?.
I find it slightly naive that elle and Connor think that if you live in a nice area that it most probably won't happen to you. Of course there is some truth to that, I suppose the threat gang and drug related violence declines but they clearly have no clue that alot of these shooting are because of a decline in mental health resources. You could have the nicest of suburbs and get some kid suffering with MH and walk in and do a shooting spree. Take Eliot Rodgers for example. That's what's scary.
The thing that always worried me about moving to the US is the thought of my little boy having to do active shooter drills, I just don't think I could. Imagine explaining why they have to do this? Something else for theor little brain to be scared of and process. To drop him off and wonder if he will be safe? That really is a horrible thought. If I was elle I'd be researching every single school and asking about their security and what meausre they put in place. I'd have done that months in advance of the move and most probably moved to the best school I could possibly find.
Il post this link which is eye opening-
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/school-shootings-database/
This shows the schools where a firearm has been used. Of course we've all heard of the big shootings like sandy hook. But this shows the cases where it doesn't hit the news.
Of course there is violence here, when my son grows up il be scared of knife crime in schools.
But here are some statistics taken from The Sandy Hook Promise website
[COLOR=%s]Each day 12 children die from gun violence in America. Another 32 are shot and injured.[/COLOR]
[URL='https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/blog/gun-violence/facts-about-gun-violence-and-school-shootings/#sources'][FONT=varela round][COLOR=rgb(11, 148, 68)]1[/COLOR][/FONT][/URL]
Since the
shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, more than 338,000 students in the U.S. have experienced gun violence at school.
In 2022, 34 students and adults died while more than 43,000 children were exposed to gunfire at school.
4 There is
help for victims and survivors of gun violence.
[COLOR=%s]An estimated 4.6 million American children live in a home where at least one gun is kept loaded and unlocked. These improperly stored weapons have contributed to school shootings, suicides and the deaths of family members, including infants and toddlers.
[COLOR=%s]6[/COLOR][/COLOR]
So I don't know if elle and Connor have done this move armed with research, I really understand there's violence everywhere and I'm not saying don't move to America! America is wonderful in so many ways, I just don't think as with most things with these 2, they paint a picture that isn't always the truth. They seem very naive and immature to alot of things. It seems like this move is just based on a whim.