Controversy swarms the country as school shootings increase and start to become the norm
January 30, 2018
Sept. 11: an 18-year-old student was shot and killed in a school in Las Vegas, Nevada. May 25: during a high school football game in Wellington, Florida, two people were shot. May 18: 13 people were injured and 10 were killed in a high school in Santa Fe, Texas. That’s just three out of 37 school shooting that have happened in 2018. How many people have you heard talking about these tragedies? Probably few to none. According to a recent Harvard study, the rate of mass shootings since 2011 has tripled, and there hasn’t been much happening to stop it. There are many arguments that have been circulating ever since this problem occurred, regarding the second amendment and gun control laws. The media and the reactions of the country reveal an interesting topic to be discussed: are school shootings becoming normalized?
Since the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, there were 25 more school shootings that most people aren’t aware of. Large mass shootings like Sandy Hook, back in 2012, gained awareness on social media and caused the grieving of the entire nation. Yet in 2017, Rancho Tehama Elementary school experienced a mass shooting, killing five people and injuring dozens, and most had not seen it at all in the media.
Living in the post-Columbine generation, many students feel the reactions to shootings seem to lessen as the death count grows, and it starts to feel more like a number instead of a tragedy.
“The more bad things happen, the more it becomes a normal thing,” senior Zenon Stepien said.
While not blinking an eye at such events may make our generation seem heartless, many say that the government is at fault for this mentality. A lack of action, whether it be gun control or other ways to stop this epidemic, have people all over the US discussing what is right and wrong. Gun control being the big topic talked about. While some seek to protect the Second Amendment, others want to sacrifice their right to bear arms to end this cycle.
Many conservatives are against gun control and argue that banning guns will not solve the problem. They feel that even if guns are banned, people will still be able to get their hands on them if they really want to. They think it would be similar to Prohibition; alcohol was banned, which created speakeasies and more crime-ridden and dangerous environments for drinking, ultimately making the problem worse. The same thing could potentially happen; guns are banned, creating a new black market and in the end causing more crime and more problems. There is also the argument on this side about the Second Amendment. The United States was built on a foundation, and that foundation is the Constitution, which was meant to be a rulebook for the country. The amendments were made to protect the country and people’s rights and many feel that banning guns would be against the Constitution and its rights.
“I think that it is important to be able to defend ourselves because tyranny by the government is what we need to be prepared for” senior Zenon Stepien said.
The other side of gun control argues many points made by the more conservative side. Some people say that in order to protect schools from shootings, the government needs to put more regulations on or even completely ban all guns. They feel that the Second Amendment shouldn’t matter with how many lives are being lost and that the government needs to take action. Countries like Australia banned guns, and haven’t had a mass shooting since 1996. So the question people are asking is, ‘If it works for them, why wouldn’t it work for us?’
Many students know, growing up, that when there was danger in the area of the school, they would go into a ‘code red’ lockdown, where all students and teachers would hide in their classrooms and lock the doors. For years, this was accepted as a proficient safety protocol, until the recent shootings that have evidently proven it wrong. Many schools have started creating new safety procedures, some of which have been controversial. Providing teachers with weapons has been a proposed idea, which only caused more room for arguments. Some think that this could instantly stop an attack, while others disagree and say that it just adds fire to fire, as well as cause unease for students. One new addition to many schools’ and Troy High’s safety procedures include plans for escape and fighting the attacker. These very new reforms hope to bring change and new safety to students across the country, but only time will tell if it will work. Senior Zoe Rouvalis has faith in the new reforms,
“I think what they’re doing at Troy High at least is good. They’re doing their best to keep us safe,” Rouvalis said.
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