It has become trite. The redundant, sorrowful news of another school shooting. Coping from the endless tragedies that have transpired, people desperately want to point a finger.
The shooter, the parents and the students are all susceptible to this blame game, but the real blame should be placed on two things: the guns and lawmakers.
Although violence is not completely preventable, policymakers lack the urgency and action when it comes to violence at school, especially with guns. Watching children get hurt, time after time, lawmakers continue preaching their passive, indolent message: “people kill people.”
But above it all, the truth should be apparent. Even though people kill people, they can only do so with a gun in their hands.
There were 656 mass shootings in 2023, 394 of those being school shootings. The likelihood of school shootings has continuously increased since the infamous Columbine incident, where 12 students and a teacher fell victim to two gunmen. Columbine should have been the wake up call for gun reform, but now, the massacre isn’t even in America’s top 10 most deadly mass shootings.
These staggering numbers will only increase if lawmakers don’t put an end to gun violence across the country and, at last, put the children first. For many, school shootings are no longer a far-off fear. Instead, students of every age around the country are simply waiting until their school falls as the next victim.
Senior Margil Sanchez-Carmona explained how school shootings are not a worst nightmare, but a potential reality for many students as they become more and more desensitized to gun violence in schools. “I remember last year there was a school shooting threat at our school, but no one seemed surprised or alarmed by it. A few students didn’t show up for the first couple periods, but after that, everything was treated like nothing happened,” he recalled.
On Jan. 4 2024, a shooter killed a sixth grader and left 5 others wounded at Perry High School in Des Moines, Iowa. This attack marked the second school shooting of the year and the second shooting to be soon forgotten by Americans.
Following the unwritten, worn script, the reactions to the killing were all too familiar. Politicians like Kim Reynolds released statements sending prayers to families. Many called for strengthened gun control laws and took to the capitol in protest. Even PV students staged a walkout in support of Perry students. But like always, no amendment was made.
It is not that Iowa lacks the legislative ability to pass meaningful school safety legislation. In fact, over the past few years, Iowa has seen numerous changes in the education system, with new bills being passed fostering an increasingly hostile school environment. The most recent bill introduced in Iowa aims to arm teachers at school.
Pleasant Valley Psychology teacher Ann Berger views the passing of this bill as deeply concerning news. “If the makers of this bill had done any research about the biological and emotional impacts of this, they would know it’s not a good idea. Even trained police officers miss their targets more than half the time at just 6 feet away; should we be trusting untrained teachers with the same responsibilities in a stressful situation?” she questioned.
At the start of the school year, teachers questioned their abilities to teach certain books in their curricula. Now, teachers and students alike question their safety in their own classrooms.
Firearms should not be left in the hands of the mass population; they should be regulated in a way that only trained professionals can handle them.
Sanchez-Carmona added, “It’s tiring to see people still trying to justify gun violence under protection of the second amendment. We should never leave our citizens to fend for themselves like it’s the Hunger Games, especially not in schools.”
