Schools should provide a safe refuge from the brutality that affects many Americans regarding gun laws and school shootings. However, many states need comprehensive gun-free school laws.
Covered carry exemptions in firearm-free school rules, such as those found in Texas’ Senate Bill 910 and House Bill 669, pose a risk to pupils’ safety and increase the likelihood of deadly school shootings.
At the same time, the firearm industry’s efforts to push higher education institutions to allow firearms in schools put students’ and instructors’ safety at risk.
BACKGROUND
In our schools, firearms have no place. The murders at Columbine, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, and other US schools have shown the devastation firearms can have on a school community.
The federal government has not only has failed to address these issues, but it has also sought to roll back some of the most effective, life-saving policies from state and local governments.
Calls for teachers to be armed or college students to carry firearms will result in more gun fatalities and injuries. In contrast, laws that ban weapons on school premises and impose heavy fines for having them are beneficial in keeping pupils and instructors safe.
The existence of weapons in college classrooms also infringes on the First Amendment freedom to an academic exemption of speech since firearms might stifle open discussion essential to the student experience.
Permitting guns on campus creates a substantial hazard to university employees and professors, making the job more hazardous for university personnel and faculty.
GUN VIOLENCE IN K–12 SCHOOLS: WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
Shootings at primary schools surprise us as schools are generally safe refuges from the rifle brutality that plagues other parts of the country. According to a study conducted by the US Justice and Education Departments, from 1992 to 2006, more youngsters ages 5–18 were murdered outside school than at school.
In addition, off-campus youth suicides happened 140 times more frequently than on school grounds. Amid the 2010-11 school year, about one murder or suicide of a school-age youngster at school for every 3.5 million students enrolled was recorded.
School-associated pupil homicide rates fell after the federal laws prohibiting firearms within 1,000 feet of schools were implemented in the early 1990s. Students are less likely to carry weapons, and fewer students do so.
Rather than mandating that teachers be armed, our schools should educate pupils and parents about the risks of guns and the need for secure storage.
In nearly three-quarters of the incidents studied, the culprit obtained their weapon from home or a family member’s house.
SCHOOL SHOOTINGS
On the dawn of November 30, 2021, a student of 15 years fatally shot four classmates and wounded seven others at his high school in Oakland County, Michigan. It’s only one of the many terrible K-12 school firings that have become etched into our consciousness as Americans.
We’ve also noticed that the prospect of a school firing alone is enough to disrupt learning immensely. A TikTok challenge called “National Shoot up Your School Day” exploded in popularity in December. Despite its lack of specificity and origins, the challenge stated that pupils at K-12 schools would be targets for violence.
Some schools canceled classes in the wake of the violence, while others increased safety. Many youngsters missed school. (It’s good noting that no instances of mass murder occurred as a result.)
HOW CAN WE PREVENT THEM?
Understanding the school shootings of previous pupils can provide valuable information on how to stop future tragedies. So, what can we do about it?
First and foremost, school shootings appear to have a variety of causes, many of which are not as simple as mental health issues and bullying. School officials and staff must address bullying prevention efforts and the mental health needs of their students. The addressing may be accomplished by helping kids learn about emotions in an age-appropriate manner.
Second, since most K-12 shooting offenders are under age, they cannot obtain weapons lawfully.
In over 90% of the K-12 incidents, people utilized handguns, and nearly half of the attackers stole their weapons from home. There cannot be school firings without firearms. More should be done to have guns away from children in the United States.
Third, parents, students, and staff must be on the lookout for clear signals of impending danger. Many shooters give away their intentions in advance. They may make videos journal entries about their plans, warn some classmates not to go to school on a particular day, boast about their intentions, or attempt to assign the help of others in their plan.
Children may now use social media sites as a platform for disclosing their plots.
Fourth, school authorities should be cautious about believing every evident act of precaution is worthwhile. Some individuals feel that lockdown exercises, school resource personnel, metal detectors, and such are a helpful disincentive to school shootings and overall school violence.
However, investigators have also shown that they can exacerbate anxiety and dread in students. Pupils may become desensitized to the exercises, failing to identify the urgency of a genuine emergency if it occurs. Most K-12 school shooters are also pupils at their schools.
Finally, our aim should be to establish environs where school firings never happen again, and this is a big goal, and it will take some effort. However, addressing key concerns such as mental health may help prevent future school bloodshed.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What Constitutes a School Shooting?
The media and statistics regarding school shootings are inconsistent, with studies varying widely regarding which events should be considered incidents.
Every town’s count, any instance where “weapons releases live round inside a school or on a school ground,” is also included on the campuses of universities and colleges.
Is It True That School Shootings Are on the Rise?
The data of school-related violent fatalities has not increased in the last 20 years. According to recent federal statistics, different types of youth victimization are decreasing, and fewer pupils report fear of violence at school than in former surveys.
Are School Shootings an Isolated Incident? Do These Events Have a Consistent Profile?
According to experts, the “profile” of a shooter is widely discussed, but school shooting incidents have been perpetrated by assailants of all ages, disciplinary histories, family backgrounds, and races.
Safety consultants advise that schools pay attention to all concerns and threats, regardless of the student’s profile.
How Can School Shootings Be Prevented?
As the nation looks for answers following gun laws and school shootings plus school violence, relatives and classmates frequently claim it was a spontaneous, emotional outburst such as “He snapped.”
The most significant way to make schools secure, they claim, is to establish a consistent, dependable procedure for informing and reacting to anxiety about kids’ intentions.
“I think the phrase ‘just snapped’ minimizes the significance of continuing risk management and evaluation,” threat-assessment expert and psychologist Anders Goranson said in a 2014 presentation at the annual congregation of the American Psychological Association.
People must feel comfortable disclosing information or discussions that made them nervous because they “stood up on their neck,” he explained.
Is There Anything Else That We Should Worry About Regarding School Safety?
Although gun laws and school shootings are often the subjects of public policy debates, school safety is not merely dependent on gun violence.
Other threats to school safety include knives, bombs, and explosions. Knives are particularly dangerous in schools since they may be concealed with a briefcase or coat pocket.
The weapons can easily harm someone unaware of their presence due to their location, approach path taken to enter the target zone, lack of training regarding what constitutes an immediate threat.