School Shootings in America

Liza Sencion

Two students killed and thirteen others left wounded, six schoolmates shot by fellow classmate, 13 people dead and 23 wounded in a High School, Four girls and a teacher are shot to death and 10 people wounded during a false alarm in school…Those were the headlines of all newspapers at one time or another. High School shootings have been occurring throughout the United States. Why is it that a student would come into their school and open fire? Why is it that no one notices the signs before the incident? How is it possible that they were able to bring the firearm into the school? Those are some questions people need answers to, especially those concerned with what will happen next.

Is there enough being done to end gun violence in schools? Yes there are metal detectors in some schools but is that enough? Shouldn’t they make metal detectors mandatory in every school, more security guards should be hired and Identifications should be shown by everyone who enters the building. There should be precautions taken but of course there isn’t enough fundings to buy metal detectors and hire more security guards or even to buy the machines to make identification cards. Its hard to believe that there isn’t enough money out there to increase school safety but there is enough money that the government is able to cut down taxes. Tax payers pay for campaigns but why doesn’t our taxes go off to help make schools safer for our children?

Students should not be afraid to attend school. School should be a safe environment where teenagers could be teenagers and not feel intimidated. CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, is a school based survey designed to produce a sample of risk behaviors of students ages 9-12. In the CDC Media Relations web page the 1997 statistics show that 8.3% of high school students carry a weapon (e.g., gun, knife, or club) to school and 7.4% of high school students were threatened or injured with a weapon on school property throughout the year. In the report also included was that nationwide, 4% of students had missed 1 ...

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...ve to be 17 or older before you can be expelled. That does not solve anything because many students are not 17 until their senior year in High School. These precautions taken has lowered the amount of guns brought into schools. Two years ago, 129 guns were confiscated from students. Last year, the number of confiscated guns was down to 90 and assaults on teachers are down 24 per cent.

How safe is it? No one will ever know. There is no definite measures that can be taken that will guaranteed no more school shootings. There has been a decrease in school shootings and the government has done all they can to make schools safer. They are looking for better solutions to end all this violence in schools but when will we get them? How long would it take for us to receive the security we need? There is not enough being done to end it. Do we need to wait until the next shootings occur to get the proper resources needed? Suppose the next shooting happens at the High School of Economics and Finance what will we do next? Suppose its at a loved ones school, how will you feel? Don’t wait any longer to be heard we need to stand up and demand that there be metal detectors in every school.