Gun Violence In School Shootings

School should be a place of peace and opportunity, but gaps in the system of gun control threatens the safety of faculty and students. School shootings have killed a total of 297 lives, young and old (Slate Magazine). Gun control has been a continuous nationwide debate for many years. It seems that no one wants to take a stance against guns unless they are personally affected. In order to take control of the matter and prevent more incidents from continuing schools need to change. To achieve a safe environment in schools need to educate faculty, safe and students, heighten security, and assess mental health issues.

“How many more school shootings do we need before we start talking about this as a social problem, and not merely a random collection of isolated incidents?” said Jackson Katz, activist against violent acts.This quote perfectly shows that school security needs to be improved and taken more seriously.There have been 275 school shootings since Columbine.The virginia tech massacre is the largest modern shooting in U.S history with 32 killed and 17 wounded.If precautions were taken this could have been prevented.25% of teenagers are exposed to hate related graffiti within school grounds.Schools now are filled with drug dealing,wepons,and acts of violence.There needs to be a solution to this growing problem. I believe every school should have metal detectors,an on guard police officer, a closing metal door,a K9 unit, and faculty are required to wear IDs.I believe if add just one of these security measures the school will be safer than it had before.

The problem with society, is that people tend to wait for the problem to occur before making a change. Troubled children and teens have always existed but unfortunately now we’ve entered into an era where shootings are no longer just seen in action movies, it has now become a reality in our schools. Why do these children end up killing their classmates and why the number of school shootings in America have increased in the past several years? These articles try to give some kind of explanation into why these tragic accidents occur. As well as preventions that teachers, parents, and the community as a whole can partake in. This paper will focus on these two main ideas or themes.

Imagine being in the family’s shoes when hearing through media reports that their child was killed in a school shooting. If teachers had the option of being equipped with the handguns, then that child (and the rest in the classroom) would have survived. How many more times are we going to learn about a deranged gunman walking into a school loaded and ready to kill? How many more innocent children need to die before we wake up and give our teachers the prospect to fight back? The only resolution is to grant our teachers a fighting chance. No shooter is going to target a school that can protect itself and fight back. Every second counts in a school shooting. Calling 911 and anticipating for police to arrive isn’t good enough. Spartanburg County South Carolina Sheriff Chuck Wright says, “Our form of justice is not making it. Carry a concealed weapon. That’ll fix it” (Miller, Fox News). Then there was Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. who lately created a nationwide uproar for advising citizens to master how to manage firearms so they can protect themselves, because he says, “simply calling 911 and waiting is no longer your best option” (Handelman Fox 6 Wisconsin). What happens when the nearest police unit is 10

Numerous studies have been conducted to determine if teachers should be in possession of a firearm while on school properties and if this will decrease the number and magnitude of school shootings. Many scholars believe equipping teachers with firearms will be costly and end up unnecessarily endangering more students, but many scholars claim that a teacher should be the last line of defense against a school shooter. The question this paper hopes to answer is how can equipping teachers who teach grades K-12 help to prevent school shootings in the United States. This paper will attempt to answer that question by examining the perspectives of school administration and law enforcement, the impact on student’s safety and education, the

More than 270 gun sightings have been reported in schools in the year of 2016 (Mascia). Overall, more than fifty million kids walk into school with firearms everyday, but nobody knows about it. Why? Because most school officials do not have enough rights to search through students’ belongings if they have suspicion about something. Schools should have the right to search students’ belongings because of behavior, ownership, and safety.

Mass shootings have become one of the most fearful events that could happen in elementary schools, high schools, and College campuses. These violent actions committed by a number of individuals have happened for many years and will continue happening unless prevented. Individuals like James Holmes opened fire in a Colorado movie theater, killing twelve individuals and injuring twenty, John Sawahri shot five students dead in Santa Monica College also injuring four individuals. However Eric Harris and Dylan Kleibold executed the most horrific act of school violence in United States History. These two individuals managed to take the lives of twelve students, a teacher and managed to take their own life in the process. This act of crime has spread through America, leaving no one safe.

It is a somber event for those who read the newspaper when they see the risks that the children in this continent are subject to. Mothers and fathers become worried when they send their offspring to school, not certain when or if they will return. Lives are ended early and without reason, when these helpless infants are helplessly caught in a horrific situation.

It is a low-cost alternative to hiring more school resource officers and or security guards. In fact, it would cost the underpaid teacher from an economic standpoint. The best measure to stop school shootings is prevention. Having a school resource officer on staff can help head off problems before they happen. Those in favor of arming teachers state, well-trained teachers can be an effective deterrent to armed intruders in schools. When in fact, according to, Jason Halifax, a Des Moines police spokesman and a law enforcement firearms trainer, “when your adrenaline is pumping and your heart is beating faster, you're not going to shoot the same way you do at the range – not without a lot of training"(Mansoor). Untrained shooters are more dangerous than trained individuals, not only to themselves but also those they are trying to

Although most people have argued that gun control laws should be regulated in schools, closer examination shows that having trained/licensed faculty could prevent further shootings. All school faculty should go through an examination process where not only is their mental health checked but they are also licensed to have a gun. A lot debate that it is going to cost a great amount of money to be able to administer these licenses but with a small budget reduction for other activities the efforts can be made to make a safer environment for any student and employee. Looking back to all school shootings there was one key element missing in all of them: Protection within the school. Multiple examples from Columbine High School shooting or Sandy Brooks

The documentary, “Pathway to Violence”, delves into the topic of mass murders, especially school shootings. Citing crimes such as those that took place at Columbine, Sandy Hook, and Virginia Tech, viewers are shown the inside view of the perpetrators. It is shown that offenders often display warning signs, which are commonly missed. The documentary offers not only a look at the perpetrators themselves, but also at the reformations that are necessary to potentially prevent these tragedies before they happen.

On April 20, 1999, two young students of Columbine High School, opened fire in their school killing twelve students and injuring more than twenty other students. March 21, 2005, a sixteen-year-old boy killed his grandfather and his companion before going to Red Lake Senior High School and killed five students and a security guard. April 16, 2007, a gunman kills two people in his dorm before going to a academic building at Virginia Tech and killing thirty students. December 14, 2012, a twenty-year-old man kills his mother before going Sandy Hook Elementary School and killing twenty-six people, twenty whom were first graders. December 13, 2013, an eighteen-year-old man killed one student at Arapahoe High School in Colorado. October 24, 2014, a fifteen-year-old gunman killed five students and injured one student at Marysville Pilchuck High School. October 1, 2015, a twenty-six-year-old man fired in a hall at Umpqua Community College killing ten people and injuring nine. Now I could go on and on with how many school shootings the United

In today's society it's not drugs and alcohol at school were worried about anymore, It's guns. Gun violence and school shootings have been all over the news in 2018. The question everyone keeps asking themselves, is why? A few things that play a factor in most of these school shootings are the shooters home and school life, their easy access to the weapon, and their overall wellbeing as a whole.

The spate of school shootings over the past few years has had a devastating impact on the families and communities where those wanton murders took place. President Barack Obama visits the towns where these tragedies take place and pays the nation's respect by addressing memorial services. At a recent memorial service following the massacre of elementary school children in Connecticut, the president said, "We can't tolerate this anymore."

After researching more in depth about school shootings for my last write up, I decided that reading and learning about the reality of school gun violence was important. In the late 1990s there was a downward spiral of youth violence. Suburban areas stayed out of the spotlight, which helped keep the fear of school violence to a minimum and brush under the rug the violence. In non-suburban areas the majority were experiencing gun violence which led to fear in many peoples eyes. The typical schoolyard fights had turned into murders and much more dangerous. There was a line that mentioned students not bringing home homework anymore but coming home with bullet wounds. The amount of school shootings in these non-suburban areas was really reflecting