Gun violence in schools
https://youtu.be/VYOjWnS4cMY
Above is a link to This is America by Childish Gambino.
I was in 10th grade the first time there was a very serious bomb threat at my high school. On the day of the threat over half the school was absent. I remember my classes being scared of people. My 30 person social studies class only had 10 kids in it. Thankfully it was just a false alarm. I was a sophomore in college in Oneonta in 2019. I had just gotten to the school gym when I got a text message on my phone that there was an active shooter on campus. Again thankfully it was a false alarm, but none of us found that out until much after the hysteria had died down. There were students barricaded in classrooms hiding under desks, and police officers crawling around campus trying to find and take down the alleged shooter.
One theme that was common in the media provided this week, and more largely in America, is this overwhelming idea that the need to maintain the right to bear arms supersedes the need for safety, especially in schools. Most teens and parents of students are concerned there could be a shooting at their school (Graf, 2018). These concerns are valid and completely rational. The 2022-21 school year, school shootings hit a record high in two decades according to a federal report (St. George, 2022). There have been some proposed solutions to fighting gun violence in schools that could help alleviate the rise of gun violence, including: implementation of metal detectors in schools, banning assault rifles, improving mental health screenings, preventing people with mental illness from purchasing guns, and arming teachers (Graf, 2018). Some of these solutions were considered more effective by the surveyed, but I want to address arming teachers as a solution, as this is something that could potentially affect me. The idea that Americans are so unwilling to submit to stricter gun control, that they would rather risk the safety of children is unfathomable to me.
A quote from Bowling for Columbine elaborates the idea that more guns as a form of gun control is ineffective. A person being interviewed said ”If guns made the world safer, America would be one of the safest places on earth, but it's not,” (Moore, 2002). To me it displays that Americans value their guns more than the lives of others. The music video to This is America by Childish Gambino elaborates on this idea. There are guns that are taken away with care, while the bodies they just murdered are dragged away without care (Glover, 2018). It has been a trend in America to care more about the ability to easily access firearms, than we care about the lives the firearms take away. In the conversation of reducing school shootings they also bring up the idea that access to mental health resources and mental health screenings to purchase firearms would be effective ways to make schools safer. Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the children is a song about a student shooting up his school (Foster the people, 2011). It was written to raise awareness of mental health and gun control (Foster the people, 2011). I first heard this song on the radio in elementary school, and it wasn't till college that I found out it was about a kid wanting to shoot up his school. It is extremely misleading because it has such an upbeat melodic sound. Now I believe that it adds more symbolism to the song. As the rate of school shootings were at an all time high, so was the rates of Cyberbullying (St George, 2022).
Typically, someone does not just choose violence unprovoked. Finding the root of the problem, and implementing preventative solutions seems like a more effective plan of action in my eyes. Easily accessible mental health resources are needed in schools. In my experience, it would be easier to offer mental health services to one kid to help prevent a school shooting, than it is to provide mental health resources to all the students who just experienced the traumatizing school shooting.
References
Foster the People. (2011, February 5). Foster The People - Pumped Up Kicks (Official Video). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDTZ7iX4vTQ
Glover, Donald. (2018, May 6). Childish Gambino - This Is America (Official Video). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYOjWnS4cMY
Graf, N. (2018, April). A majority of U.S. teens fear a shooting could happen at their school, and most parents share their concern. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/18/a-majority-of-u-s-teens-fear-a-shooting-could-happen-at-their-school-and-most-parents-share-their-concern/
Moore, M. (Producer & Director) (2002). Bowling for Columbine [Film]. United States: Dog Eat Dog Productions/ YouTube https://watchdocumentaries.com/bowling-for-columbine/
St. George, D. (2022, June 28). School Shootings Rose to Highest Number in 20 Years, federal data says. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/06/28/school-shootings-crime-report/
Hey Taylor!
ReplyDeleteThis week's topic was certainly a tricky one to comment on. In an ideal world, people across the nation would heed your advice and make strides to increase mental help awareness along with building bullying prevention skills. I find the Second Amendment to be extremely polarizing and controversial. My goal of this response is to be the "devil's advocate," if you will. I fully understand and appreciate your stance that people of America should submit to stricter gun control laws. And while I think generally that is a good thing, when it comes to school violence and threats, part of me feels like as a student or educator I might feel safer in my classroom knowing that someone in my school were armed to protect me in harms way. The appearance of a fire arm in the school is incredibly scary in itself, so perhaps if retired and trained police officers considered patrolling as security guards, we would all feel more protected. In essence, they would be expected to carry but conceal their weapon as to avoid hysteria among the students. God forbid there were ever an incident or tragic event, the police off-site would not be able to clear the scene quick enough, rendering the entire school population vulnerable. I find that criminals will stop at nothing and break any laws to acquire fire arms; these people twisted enough to shoot another person, let alone children will not be following any gun control laws. In the end schools and staff are left defenseless against people with such horrific intentions. It is definitely one other point of view to consider. I think cultivating a safe and positively improved environment in schools and across the nation can only come from civil and respectable conversations, hearing both sides. Overall, great blog I was able to takeaway a lot in reference to this topic. I especially liked how you included some specified statistics from "The Washington Post" article (St. George, D, 2022). I hope this comment did not infringe on any of your thoughts and feelings toward this topic. Hope all is well!
-Kelly
Hey Taylor, I enjoyed reading your blog and loved how you started it because it went with the points I made with my blog. I noticed right from the start you experience School violence, but then said thank god it was a false alarm. In my blog I talk about how even false alarms are traumatizing to students and in their future. Although it was a false alarm I could only imagine the fear and worry you had going on that day and I’m sorry you had to experience something like that and twice at that. It's important to understand and recognize the trauma that comes with it whether it was a false alarm or not. I spoke about trauma in my blog and how it is extremely important to comfort and compose those who are dealing with it. Also, I agree with teachers and security guards not having access to guns because it does make them access to students as well can create other types of triggers and trauma or PTSD to those who have experienced it just like you. You’re blog was very straightforward and emotional I appreciate you sharing your experience and hope you have healed from it.
ReplyDelete