My goodness, this is an alarming set of figures and the nonchalance with which it’s cited is equally disturbing:

One reason people tend to overestimate the psychological damage a child may sustain after a school shooting is that they underestimate the prevalence of childhood trauma. In a 1997 study of 12-to-17-year-olds conducted by the Medical University of South Carolina, 8 percent reported experiencing a sexual assault, 17 percent reported physical assault and 39 percent said they had been witness to violence.

“In a way, trauma is part of the ticket of being human,” Dr. Saxe said. “Most of us can look back and note at least one experience where there was a pretty big threat” to our safety. “Most people use that, manage and cope and go on.”

That trauma is part of the American experience (I would challenge his sweeping assertion that these sorts of events are part of the overall human experience) is so very sad. And defeatist, in a way.

And I think that in light of how “common” this expert says such trauma is, they’re probably falsely diminishing the effects. My cousin was gunned down by her ex-husband, who had a long history of and jail time for assaulting her repeatedly. He shouldn’t have been able to buy the gun he purchased to kill her but he did, legally, and the rest is history. Is it any wonder, then, that my family is vehemently opposed to lax gun laws and the ability of every Tom, Dick, Harry, and Mary to pack a pistol? And is it any wonder that my cousins and I are wary of marriage and have trust issues?

I think it’s a bit odd that the same psychologist, sociologists, theologians, etc. who are alarmed by the breakdown and decrease in the popularity of marriage haven’t considered that trauma plays a part. There are a lot of damaged, traumatized folks among us.