Introduction
The senseless death of young people is not only tragic but rage-inducing. Over the years, the American community has been forced to deal with rising cases of school shootings which have ranked the US as the leading country in school shootings among the top leading economies. Reports released by CNN in 2018 indicated that cases of school shootings are 57 times higher in the US compared to a combination of major economies (Grabow & Rose, 2018) . The fact that the nation has recorded a rising trend in school shootings has left Americans grappling with the questions of resolving these issues to make learning institutions safe. Even though the society is doing a great job in ensuring that such cases are not normalized, the shock, pain and, agony is always followed by the gun control debate. Some experts believe that school shootings are reflections of gun violence in the society and thus the introduction of gun control policies will curb the problem. However, these claims are often refuted by those who point out that gun control might escalate rather than resolve the matter. Unfortunately, such debates tend to veer people away from analyzing the problem from multiple perspectives and finding practical solutions. This paper examines the instigators of school shootings and evaluates relevant solutions that could prevent their reoccurrence in the future.
Research
The impact of school shootings goes beyond the victims who lose their lives or injured. As such, providing statistics on the number of victims could be considered a form of downplaying the actual effects of such incidences. Research indicates that the aftermath of school shootings are reduced enrolments among 9th graders and overall fall of test scores. Reduced enrolments could depict fear that force parents to opt for other schools that they deem safe. Additionally, poor performance could be attributed to trauma that learners suffer which negatively impacts their school experiences and achievements. In other words, school shootings not only claim innocent lives but also expose children to crime and violence resulting in depression, posttraumatic stress disorders and, anxiety. Collectively, these complications go beyond academic achievements as they increase the survivors’ chances of engaging in criminal activities. School shootings create a cycle that could exacerbate such cases in future rendering schools unsafe. For these reasons, the issue of school shooting requires urgent solutions that are directed towards identifying and tackling the causes that push young individuals towards committing such atrocities.
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Even though school shootings are not new occurrences, it is undeniable that they have gone from being rare tragedies to tragic realities. School shootings date back to July 26, 1764, where four Lenape American Indians entered a schoolhouse collected near the present-day Greencastle, Pennsylvania. The four shot the schoolmaster, Enoch Brown and other ten students leaving only two survivors. Several cases of school shootings were reported in the 1800s, but they were mostly targeted to a specific individual that is teacher or student. One outstanding case was reported in April 1891 when a 70-year-old, James Foster opened fire to a group of learners in the St. Mary’s Parochial School, New York playgrounds. In the 90s several cases of school shootings were reported, but they were rare. However, in the 2000s the cases began to escalate at an alarming rate, and the number of deaths reached its peak in 2018. If this trend continues, US schools’ will be converted into environments where danger lurks in the background and parents might no longer feel comfortable to have their children in school. Based on this point, school shootings is a serious issue and failing to resolve it will affect multiple facets of the current and future society.
Arguments
As mentioned before, after every incident of a school shooting the public’s outcry is the implementation of solutions that would prevent re-occurrence of such cases. Unfortunately, society seems to hold varying views about the right solution to the problem. Other than gun control policy, there is a group of people who believe that school shootings could be resolved by increasing security in schools and allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons on campus. Advocates for this view often use airports as a point of reference. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) spend approximately $7.6 billion every year on airport security. As such, guards are not only highly-trained, but the airport also uses cutting-edge scanning technologies. The outcome has been less than 22 shootings in airports across the globe since 9-11 (Coighlan, 2018) . By comparing the funding directed to airport security and that of schools, one cannot understand the apparent differences. In essence, about $907 million is used in school security every year which means that only 43 percent of schools can afford to have an officer patrol the school at least once every week. Since increasing airport security funding enhanced security then the same approach might work in schools.
However, opponents of the idea of increasing funding for school security often point out that a thin line exists between intrusion of privacy and creating a safe environment. Note that other than placing armed officers in schools, other security measures would involve surveillance cameras and scan at the entrance. Even though these activities can be considered necessary as they ensure that the school is safe, it creates a perception where school environs are viewed as battlegrounds. Additionally, increase surveillance interferes with students’ and faculty members’ privacy as they feel that they are being watched constantly. Furthermore, increasing security in schools does not tackle the underlying problem that is the factors that push some learners to commit such heinous atrocities. As such, it is safe to argue that increased security in schools will not resolve the matter; instead, this move will transfer the problem to other environments. After all, nothing will deter a ‘disturbed’ teen from opening fire to a group of students at the mall or their favorite hangout place. Based on these points, increasing security in schools is a superficial solution as it fails to uncover the actual reasons behind these shootings.
Another solution that has been proposed to the solution of a mass shooting is allowing teachers to carry concealed weapons on the campus. This notion is supported by the notion that teachers are the first responders in any school shooting. As children run away from the sounds of bullets they tend to ran to run towards it to help the injured and get the rest to safety. For this reason, allowing teachers to carry weapons seems reasonable as it will allow them to tackle the shooter before he/she causes significant harm. Whereas such an approach seems logical, it will distort the teacher/student relationship affecting the actual essence of schooling as teachers become symbols of security rather than education. Additionally, placing guns in the hands of teachers only increases the number of guns in the school premises which might be catastrophic in a shoot-out situations when no one knows who the perpetrator is or where he/she is hiding.
According to Lin, Fei, Barzman, & Hossain (2018), most school shooters were victims of school bullying for prolonged periods while others struggled with mental disorders. The society has romanticized schools as places of friendship, but the reality is different as some learners are alienated and harassed by their peers. These harassments are not only emotional and social as they can get physical on certain occasions. Victims of bullying crave for a sense of belong, and thus they might gravitate towards former perpetrators of mass shootings. As such the solution to school shootings should aim at dealing with the issue of bullying schools, promotion of mental health campaigns and, exclusion of mass murder perpetrators from media coverages (Teasley, 2018).
Strategy
School shootings can be prevented by reducing cases of bullying, increasing mental health awareness and, shifting from the tendency of treating perpetrators as stars. The first step towards implementing the three-facet plan entails the involvement of students, teachers and, parents. Both parents and teachers and parents should look out for warning signs by creating an environment that encourages open communication and emphasizing the essence of empathy and kindness. Right from an early stage, teachers and parents should strive to enable students to view the issue of bullying from a different perspective that is ‘how will you feel if you were the recipient of this harassment’ and vice versa (Paolini, 2015). At the same time, parents should be willing to address any signs of bullying. Collectively, these tactics prevent the normalization of bullying thus creating a welcoming and friendly environment to all students.
Another factor that promotes school shootings is a mental illness where they might stop taking their medications. In this case, the school environment should support campaigns meant to raise mental health awareness to prevent possible stigmatization. Parents and healthcare providers should also play their roles by maintaining close ties with their children to ensure that they stick to the prescribed regime. Lastly, the media should change how it reports news on school shootings. Journalists need to focus on the damages that have been caused rather than focusing on the perpetrator which portrays him/her as a ‘star.’ By focusing on the resulting damages, ‘disturbed’ youths will be able to understand the magnitude of agony resulting from an act of revenge.
Conclusion
From the presented points, it is apparent that school shootings can be prevented by focusing on the factors that push perpetrators towards committing these crimes. Policies meant to increase school security funding and arming teachers are reactive rather than proactive. Such measures subside the problem instead of solving it. As such, effective policies need to tackle the root cause of the problem such as bullying and mental illness.
References
Coighlan, S. (2018, December 12). 2018 'worst year for US school shootings'. BBC News . Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/business-46507514
Grabow, C., & Rose, L. (2018, May 21). The US has had 57 times as many school shootings as the other major industrialized nations combined. CNN World . Retrieved from https://edition.cnn.com/2018/05/21/us/school-shooting-us-versus-world-trnd/index.html
Lin, P.-I., Fei, L., Barzman, D., & Hossain, M. (2018). What have we learned from the time trend of mass shootings in the U.S.? NCBI .
Paolini, A. (2015). School Shootings and Student Mental Health: Role of the School Counselor in Mitigating Violence. American Counselling Psychology , 1-14.
Teasley, M. L. (2018). School Shooting and the Need for more School-Based Mental Health Services . Children & Schools , 131-134.
