American School Shootings

I remember a time during 6th grade, while playing outside during recess, we were called back into our classrooms early. Of course, everyone was upset, because recess was what we all looked forward towards, but the scared look on our teacher’s face changed our attitudes right away. We were told that there was an intruder on campus and that we were to take the necessary precautions for our safety. The teacher double check to make sure the door was locked and turned off the lights, and we were all told to sit under our desks right away, this went on for about ten minutes until we were told to resume class. I never heard anything else about why we had the lock down, but school was a place where I always felt safe and that was the first time that …show more content…
Some of the fears students are faced with daily in school range from students being bullied, sexually harassed and even being killed. The fear of someone coming onto a campus with a gun and shooting innocent children has become a reality more than once in recent years. Brewer (2014) writes in the article, “A new wave of US school shootings and other violent acts” how these acts have only increased. “From 2000 to 2008, there were an average of five mass killings each year in America, according to an FBI report. Since 2009, there have been an average 16 per year—more than one a month. The number of people injured or killed in school shootings has remained level, according to the Department of Education (June, 2014).” Protecting students during acts of violence is the goal for many educators and parents. Ideas have been thrown around which include arming teachers incase of an intrusion or increasing mental health assessments. Actions need to be taking immediately though because obviously the way things are now hasn’t been keeping school campus safe. Children need to feel safe in the classroom, without the constant fear that they many be attacked from an intruder or another …show more content…
The need to stop school violence is incredibly important but doing this needs to come from the violator themselves. Stopping these acts from accruing is possible with early detection says Ross (2013) in his article, “Mental health services a defense against school violence.” “Early detection and treatment is the key. We need to reach troubled children when problems first emerge, while there’s still time to guide them back on the right track. And because young people spend so much time in school, that’s where the first inklings of trouble are offend detected (2013, p. 507)”. Students spend nearly eight hours if their day on a campus and with their educator, spending time with students who show certain characteristic of mental illness is essential. Schools have a huge opportunity to meet with the student who show signs of mental illness and teach them how control their impulses. Showing the student who is capable of committing the crime that they’re not alone and help them overcome their illness is the first step in ending violence in