School Shootings

School shootings were first reported around 1764 but gained popularity around 1997 in the USA leading to a now very huge and critical problem and shift in life for many faculty, students and parents.

“If you see or hear anything, you need to report it,” informed Ms. Pitts, the Assistant Principal at Northwest High School. 

This saying has always been pushed out to the NWHS students as a way to protect everyone at the school. Jokes about this topic are very common and some reports made may not have all the context, it’s still important for safety to report what is heard. There are things in place for the process of reporting and investigating, the person reporting will stay anonymous and during the investigation, it’s handled the proper way depending on the report. It can be tedious and stressful if nothing is going on but it’s needed and safer than doing nothing.

“That’s really scary to tell a five-year-old that you could, you know, die here and you need to be quiet,” informed Aryanna Burpo, a Junior at NWHS and an employee for Beyond the Bell. 

Kids as young as 5 are being taught how to handle school shooters or active threats. While it is normal now to fear school shootings at any school and anytime no kid should have to go through that. This is striking a fear of school into kids when they should not have to be scared to go get an education. Some parents are now having to buy bulletproof backpacks and teach their kids to save themselves, so do not become the hero. Instead of worrying about what’s for lunch or what to do at recess, kids are worrying about their safety and what they will have to do if there is a school shooting.

“I’d like to think I know how I’d respond, but if that experience is one you’ve never had before, it’s foolish to say you know for certain what you’d do. I force myself to think about it so that if/when it happens, I will have prepared my mind as much as I possibly can. When I think about what I’d do/how I’d feel, I mostly think of my students. Little pieces of my heart go about their days all around NWHS. I can’t imagine a world in which you all are not here. I would be shattered irrevocably,” expressed Mrs. Hall, a teacher at NWHS.

With the rise in school shootings, many policies and ideas have gone around and been looked at with one standing out and being put into law, HF 2586. This law makes it easier for trained teachers and staff to carry guns on school property, many people are conflicted on this idea as all ideas have their pros and cons. While some think it may help protect and keep the school safer in case of emergencies with people being able to fight back easier, many do not agree. Some people think this law is making it easier for school shootings to happen as it is bringing in a weapon that may have the idea of protecting but if let into the wrong hands may do the opposite.