We write this communication as children's doctors and representatives of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Our professional lives are spent preventing harm, treating the ill and injured, and speaking up for children who have had little voice in the political sphere--till now.
On March 24, the country heard the voices of Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school students amplified in marches across America, including in Little Rock, Jonesboro, and elsewhere in Arkansas. On March 14, we heard the voice of Wylie Greer amplified across the media, as he and two other students in Greenbrier were paddled for pausing 17 minutes to honor the dead in Parkland, Fla., and raise awareness of how firearms harm children. It was 20 years ago that two students opened fire on their fellow students and teachers after setting off the fire alarms at Westside Middle School near Jonesboro.
As pediatricians we spend much of our time addressing the impact of gun violence on our patients, the children of Arkansas, whether they are victims of violence inflicted by others or themselves, or whether they witness violence in their families, neighborhoods, or schools. Childhood death resulting from gun violence is unacceptable, but those children who survive may suffer lifelong physical and mental consequences of this toxic stress.
It is now recognized that these adverse childhood events have long-term effects that may lead to depression, addiction, domestic violence, and even changes in children's DNA that are passed to the next generation. These consequences are not limited to guns going off, but include active-shooter drills, school shootings in other states, and the presence of armed guards in their schools.
The numbers are overwhelming. In 2015, the 36,252 deaths from firearms in the U.S. exceeded the number of motor vehicle deaths, while a reported five people died from terrorism that year. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1,300 U.S. children are killed each year by guns and another 5,800 more are injured. Since we began practicing pediatrics in the 1980s, there have been more children killed by firearms than American servicemen who were killed during combat in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
In a recent Newsweek report, it was noted that the number of children killed by gunfire since the Sandy Hook incident exceeded the number of American soldiers killed in combat since 9/11. Most of these deaths are unrelated to school shootings, but rather occur daily, at high rates in our poorest neighborhoods, from homicide, accidental shootings, and suicide. A recent report described that the rate of teen suicide has increased by 70 percent from 2006 to 2016. Of the approximately 4,600 teen deaths by suicide each year, over half are from firearms.
A coalition of physician groups that represents more than half a million doctors--including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the American College of Physicians, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics--has labeled the current gun violence situation a national public health epidemic.
Despite the overwhelming numbers noted above, federal and state policymakers have taken little to no action. In fact, in Arkansas we have gone in the opposite direction, by allowing guns to be carried in churches and on college campuses. We applaud the legislators and governor of Florida for passing legislation which contained several common-sense steps which will hopefully decrease the likelihood of future mass killings and teen suicides.
Since the killings in Parkland, the American Academy of Pediatrics has increased its focus and emphasis on protecting children from gun violence. Among other policy changes, the American Academy of Pediatrics advocates the following: funding for research on gun violence and safety, stronger background checks, banning military-style/high-capacity weapons, addressing firearms trafficking, encouraging safe firearm storage at home, opposing legislation to weaken current gun-control laws, supporting violence prevention programs, and enhancing mental health access.
We stand by today's youth for publicly expressing their concerns regarding gun violence, and we condemn those who ridicule their concerns or call into question their motivation. As pediatricians who must attempt to advise children and their families regarding their fears of gun violence, and who have to treat the victims of gun violence and suicide attempts, we call on Arkansas leaders to not limit our discussions to school safety, but to expand it to children's safety wherever children can be found. Now.
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Pat Casey, MD, recently retired from UAMS and worked at Arkansas Children's Hospital for 38 years. Chad Rodgers, MD, is president of the Arkansas Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and practices at Little Rock Pediatric Clinic.
Editorial on 03/29/2018