The recent reports on the shooting in Georgia at Apalachee High School has reminded many of America’s morbid reality.
Classrooms are not always the safest place for a child to be. Just weeks into the school year, 4 lives were lost due to gun violence. Mason Schermerhorn and Chrisitan Angulo were only 14 years old when they were murdered. Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie, fellow victims, were beloved teachers at Apalachee. 9 others were seriously injured, but thankfully, have been predicted to make full recovery. This tragedy has served as a daunting indication to many that, as we enter into the new school year, we will read more and more headlines about extreme violence.
The K-12 School Shooting Database says that 2023 totalled a grim, record breaking, total of 346 school shootings. It should be noted, however, that this statistic does include instances in which bullets have hit school property, even when school was not in session. Regardless, 248 Americans were either harmed or killed due to these shootings.
Within recent years, data has shown that the number of victims within the shootings has increased, with more lives being lost each time. The gruesome tally has spiked and grown in shocking amounts, totalling more and more each year. This means that school shootings have become more fatal over the years. With guns being the leading cause of death among american children and teens, we can only wonder how these statistics will look for 2024.
With these truths comes a prevailing feeling of being helpless to make a change.
Data taken by the U.S. Government Accountability Office on school shootings from 2009 to 2019 found that half of shooters were either current or former students. Additionally, 8% were discovered to be a teacher or resource officer. While we have seen schools like Liberty adopt new safety features in the classrooms, like the safe-defend boxes and door locking procedures, the fact remains that a shooter may already be aware of the lock-down workings of a school; A current student being a shooter poses the threat that they might be prepared to respond to action taken against them. Many students are left picturing what they would do with an active shooter in the building, questioning if any protections put in place, whether it be a resource officer or a box of self defense appliances, will be able to fully protect them.
The unique nature of school shootings goes without saying. While no one is equipped to handle violence in any capacity, children lack the ability even more so.
The media coverage that ensues after any attack also leaves victims of these mass events feeling an amplified sense of anxiety, as they are forced to relive their trauma. Schools are left shaken for years and years after the violence occurs. A study conducted by the American Educational Research Association has shown that after a shooting has taken place, test scores and the amount of enrollment drops within that school. The National Bureau of Economic Research organized research on Sandy Hook Elementary students after the massacre that occurred in 2012. They found that chronic absenteeism increased in not only Sandy Hook, but also in other schools in the district. The lasting impacts observed in these situations are not grief alone, they are lower grades and dropouts.
