Over the years, the United States has witness more and more gun violence in our schools. Starting with Columbine and ending with the most recent Florida shooting at Marjorie Douglas High School. There are many ways we can protect our children and make them feel safe in their schools. We could install metal detectors at entry ways, educate the children on signs of mental illness and /or more in-depth background checks.
Why had gun violence increase in schools? There could be many reasons. One reason may be that children’s minds are developed completely and they tend to act first and think about the consequences later. It could be that is seen daily on T.V. and some students come to see this as normal. Some say, these guns are too easy to obtain which makes it easy for students to have access. In addition, it isn’t just hand guns available, but assault rifles. These guns are meant to shot and kill a mass number of people. In research, it has been seen that children doing these mass shooting at school are becoming younger and younger. Furthermore, it’s not only the students that are doing these mass shootings, but teachers and adults as well. For example, the shooting at Sandy Hook elementary was a 20-year-old male with not ties to the school.
One solution to the problem could be metal detectors at all entrance ways to these schools. They are probably expensive. It would be hard for families in low income schools to get theses. There must be grant money out there that will allow schools to get metal detectors. Some schools already have them. There is a downside to these though. It can prevent children from entering the schools and arriving to their classrooms on time. This can be easily managed by having students arrive early. There is also the metal that students wear in their earrings or belts that could set the detector’s off unintentionally. They should be prohibited from being worn in schools. Other than the above, I feel this is a great solution to the problem.
Educate our children. This can be an immense help to preventing gun violence in schools. We need to educate them on mental issues, especially signs of depression. There should be a mental health course for each grade level. There should be updates to this course where applicable. We must teach them to signs to look for so that anyone with mental issues can be reported to the proper authorities. They need to know not take things people say in stride, but to take them seriously. If they say they want to kill someone, most of the time they will do it. Better safe than sorry. We must also educate our children in our homes. We should teach them not to be afraid to report these things. When they report these, they may be saving a life
Another way to decrease this problem is extensive back ground checks. Any one purchasing a gun should be given one. When you get a job with the government they do an in-depth background check also known as a public trust back ground check. They send out letters to people you have known mostly your whole life and ask the questions about what kind of person you are. This can be very helpful in case you have mention killing people or something in the past. You may be thinking about that now and should not be able to purchase a gun. If they receive negative information from a reliable source guns shops should use them to their advantage. They should not sell that person the gun.
Right now, from what I’ve read and heard on the news, the government is looking at increasing the age limit for those wanting to buy a gun. They are trying to increase the age from 18 to 21. I think this is a could idea. It will be a great idea if we implement some of the above referenced solutions. We must find a way to make our children safe in our schools. We can do this by implementing the above referenced solutions and working together as a
team. This includes the government, parents, teachers and students. With a little time, our students will feel safer, and we will see less gun violence in the news.
References
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Burstyn, J. N., & Stevens, R. (2005). The Whole School Approach to Violence Prevention. In K. Burns (Ed.), Contemporary Issues Companion. School Violence. San Diego: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from Involving the Whole School in Violence Prevention, Preventing Violence in Schools: A Challenge to American Democracy, 2001, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum) Retrieved from http://db24.linccweb.org/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010082235/OVIC?u=lincclin_spjc&xid=b9eef7b3
Angert, B. L. (2008). School Violence Is on the Rise. In J. Carroll (Ed.), Opposing Viewpoints. America's Youth. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. (Reprinted from School Shooting Safeguards. Arm Educators?, Be-Think, 2006, October 8) Retrieved from http://db24.linccweb.org/login?url=http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010300250/OVIC?u=lincclin_spjc&xid=fb95b0f0
