Mass Shootings In Schools

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.

The effort of this paper is designed to provide an audience with the basic framework in preventing, reacting to, and recovering from a school shooting. By analyzing the crisis of a school shooting, this paper will lay out the practical steps in preparing schools, communities, and local agencies for a tragedy that has already shook many communities across the nation. This paper will also follow the steps necessary to implement and evaluate a school shooting preparedness plan. In concluding this paper, school staff, local agencies, and families will be able to take the practical steps towards providing a safe and comfortable learning environment for students.

Recently in America a tragedy occurred in San Bernardino, 14 people were murdered by 2 people that allegedly had ties to ISIS. Although officers responded in a matter of minutes, that speed isn’t always available, especially in rural areas. Is this the beginning of a change in America? I believe this is so and I also believe mass shootings should be addressed more specifically school shootings because the means of protection aren’t there. “Since 2013, there have been at least 161 school shootings in America- an average of nearly one a week.” (161 School Shootings in America Since 2013. everytownresearch.org.) That statistic includes 3 Indiana schools St. Mary’s Catholic School in Griffith, Indiana on 4/21/14, Purdue University on 1/21/14 and Indiana State on 9/29/14, also a high school in Louisville, Kentucky a day after the Indiana State shooting. These aren’t just happening on the west coast or down in Florida where the news only talks about, the places that seem to never be close, they’re happening close to home

Table 1, provided by ifoplease (2015) gives details of shool shooting with over two deaths occuring in america over the last decade. It helps to put context just how deadly these events can be.

Recently there have been many school shootings throughout the United States and the world. Most of these shooting were all connected with the shooter being on anti-depressant medications. In an article called “Medicated to death: by SSRI’s and mass killings” by Lisa Arbercheski, she writes that SSRI’s are linked to the cause of most shootings. Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) is one of the most popular medications taken for depression in many countries. Some are known by their popular names like Prozac, Zoloft, Celexa, and Paxil. These medications have many tests done and none of them prove that they cure depression or mood swings. Could these medications be connected to some of the most recent shootings like the one in Newton, Connecticut? The case is that these medications are causing adolescents to go on suicidal rampage shootings and the United States is trying to play it off like the medications have no connection.

‘“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”’ (“Gun Control”) Due to firearms, more than 30,000 people die in America every year. Mass shootings happen frequently and people die because of the lack of laws and their security. The United States needs better gun control laws because automatic assault rifles are easy to buy, the mentally ill can purchase guns, and many die from guns each year.

Gun control should not exist at all in the United States. Mass shootings have almost become seen as normal event in the United States. What people do not understand is that gun control is not the answer; there are countries with little to no control that have fewer shootings. According to The Washington Post,Finland is ranked number 4 in countries with the most guns despite that they only had 24 homicides by firearm (“Gun homicides and ownership by countries” n.pag.) . In the article Did Gun Control Work In Australia “it is shown that gun control has reduced the problems but it still has not completely got rid of all firearm deaths”(Matthews n.pag.). The number of murders, homicides, or suicides do not go up due to people just owning more guns. Clayton Perry, a staff writer at the University of Maine, even points out “Stricter gun laws were in place during the Assault Weapons Ban between 1994 and 2004, but that didn't stop the shooters at Columbine in 1999 ”(Perry n. pag.). In Iceland, thirty out of a hundred people own a gun and they have zero homicides caused by guns a year(“Gun Homicides and ownership by country” n. pag.). In this day and age, everything is unpredictable, guns are a form of protection for everyone and there should not be restrictions on protection. The U.S. Department of Justice released a data brief that states, “ On average in 1987-92 about 83,000 crime victims per year used a firearm to defend themselves or their property”(Rand BJS Statistician n. pag.). The National Sheriffs Association released that the average police response time is at eighteen minutes while the average school shooting only last twelve minutes (“Embracing Technology To Decrease Response Time” n. pag.). Gun control should not exist because other countries do fine without it , high gun ownership has no link with increasing death rates , and guns are not harmful when instructions are followed.

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.

In response to the multiple school shootings in recent years, most of the left's common sense is to take away firearms all together or to make access to them extremely hard. Bernie Sanders is the candidate I've heard speak mostly about helping the mental ill so these incidents do not happen as often, however a great argument is made here and in other studies that mental health isn't necessarily the culprit. What scared me most about the "Granovetter Theory" is that in time people with higher threshold levels will become more inclined to commit heinous crimes, as well as attempting to one-up the last. In addition, the crimes could go from a 20-person school shooting to bombing of a hotel with 2,000 occupants. As long as we keep going down this

“A free people ought not only to be armed, but disciplined. ” -George Washington. School shootings have come to the forefront of our thought, especially in recent years, and people across the country are seeking the best way prevent future incidents. On one side you have those that believe more strict gun control laws and a higher presence of gun free zones is the optimum solution. This argument can be supported by the article "More Guns on Campuses Won’t Make People Safer, Researchers Say" By Jon Schuppe, where he quotes researchers from John Hopkins university stating that "Increasing gun availability in campus environments could make far more common acts of aggression, recklessness or self-harm more deadly and, thus, have a deleterious impact

     “That could never happen in my school.” This is one of the first thoughts that goes through a students mind when they hear about a school shooting. The fact is though, it can. School shootings can happen at any school at any time. Lack of security is only a small part of the problem. The major issue lies in the low morality of students and warning signs overlooked by administration.

School shootings are a big problem in the U.S. right now. There have been about eleven school shootings since the beginning of 2018. Should teachers have a firearm in the classroom at all time to fire at the shooter if they get in the classroom? Teachers should not be able to have a firearm in classroom because one of the children could get the gun and it creates more problems.

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 research articles selected discuss a dark day that occurred at 0800 on 23 January 2018 in Benton, Kentucky one day after a school shooting that had occurred in Texas 22 January 2018. A 15-year-old boy walked into the school and went to the common area of Marshal County High School; pulled out a handgun and opened fired on fellow students. The 15-year-old boy was arrested with no motive discovered. The end result was two students’ lives being taken at an early age of 15-years-old and 18 other students being wound with varying ages. The shooters identity has not been given to the community but one of the local reports who rushed to the scene was quickly relieved due to it was her son that is the suspect for the shooting. The shooter was quickly subdued once police arrived on scene. The district attorney is looking to charge the 15-year-old as an adult with no motive yet on why.

Since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, there have been roughly 208 school shootings on school grounds. This series of shootings, especially after the attack in Parkland Florida, has created an outcry for stricter gun laws, higher purchasing ages and more background checks to try and make schools safer. One of the ideas on the table to reach this is to arm teachers and staff with firearms to ‘stop the threat before it happens’. But, this has received nothing but opposition from a majority of Americans, since the cost or properly arming a school is too great, arming teachers is an open invitation to unwarranted gun violence against minority students and teachers due to racial biases. The outcry of students, teachers and families is