By now, many are aware of the latest mass school shooting in America. This time, it took place in Georgia. A 14-year-old boy, who was brand new to the school, murdered two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School last Wednesday.
I was unphased with this.
I have been unphased since Uvalde, the school shooting that occurred in 2022 and resulted in 21 deaths. Since that shooting, Texas has done little to amend its gun laws. Many people will say “it’s not the guns, it’s the people,” and I am not here to completely dismiss that idea. It is the people. It is the mentality of the gunmen. I feel as though there is some horrible fantasy playing out in these shooters’ minds, where they feel they must “show everyone and be the monster.” I recall talking to a co-worker last year about a recent school shooting. He promptly replied that up until a few months ago, he had wanted to take a gun into a public place and shoot. It was terrifying, because up until then, he was just a normal guy that worked in a grocery store. Why are we so focused on guns? Why are they so accessible? There’s no clear answer. The United States’ hesitation to act on this epidemic is what is failing our schools. Every time an obligatory “thoughts and prayers” is spoken by a congressperson, another shooter enters a school. Another bullet is fired. Another elementary school hall is smeared with blood. Another body bag is filled, and a photo is found on Reddit. So, how do we prevent the next one? We’re always asking this question, but here are my personal ideas.
Change the culture around guns
We need to do a better job of how we represent gun violence in the media. According to Current, there are now new opportunities for journalists to take classes on how to discuss gun violence in the media. Additionally, a victim of the Sandy Hook shooting labeled news reports of shootings as “attractive” to audiences. It is true that people tend to be curious about the more grotesque details of a crime scene. While it is a well-intentioned thing to “educate” the public, the information can be detrimental if it falls into the wrong hands. Thomas Mathew Crooks, the man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump this summer, was found to have a fascination with Ethan Crumbley, who shot up Oxford High School in Detroit in November 2021. Certain information about these massacres must be guarded, or at least introduced in a different manner that prevents it from encouraging another person to compete in a more disastrous way.
Any signs are signs
What do we know about school shooters? For one, the profile is often very similar amongst the perpetrators. A school shooter is usually a white male, and most shootings take place in suburban areas. Additionally, the perpetrator is likely to leak their plans about the incident beforehand. Crumbley posted the sinister phrase “see you tomorrow, Oxford” on his Instagram the day prior to carrying out his plans. Shooters are often victims of bullying, and display signs of suicidal intentions before the attack. Mental illness, the scapegoat of school shootings, is not a consistent factor for the attackers. Any time you see or hear something even remotely related to a shooting, take it seriously. As a student-teacher, I had to witness the investigation of a seven-year-old after he made various threats toward me and my co-workers. There is always a chance, and ignorance is not always bliss.
Don’t ignore the inaction
Since the 2022 Uvalde shooting, Texas has done little, if anything, to prevent future school shootings. You can still purchase an assault weapon without a waiting period. Additionally, guns can be carried in K-12 schools by the general public and the teachers. As of now, there is no evidence that arming teachers makes students safer. So, what does action and change look like?
Take a look at Connecticut. After the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, Connecticut enacted some of the strongest gun laws in the country, ranking fourth in gun law strength via Everytown research. There are safer alternatives to arming teachers as seen in Georgia, where they implemented built-in buttons on teachers’ lanyards that would alert police of danger. This is one of the reasons the Georgia shooting stopped so quickly.
We need to stop normalizing shootings. We need to stop putting guns above the lives of children. Since 2020, gun violence has been the leading cause of death in children in this country. Talk to your friends, get involved in the fight. Break the cycle by debunking myths at the dinner table this November. We can make change through education and advocacy.