Since the beginning of September of this year, The Center for Homeland Defense and Security has logged 64 on campus gun incidents. From just August 1st until September 15th The United States experienced five dead and 23 wounded from gun events on school property. These statistics are astonishing, terrifying and frankly; not at all surprising.
More than one crisis for schools to deal with
In addition to the ongoing Covid pandemic, we are witnessing an unprecedented mental health crisis in the United States.
56% of young adults report feelings of depression or anxiety.
Many people think of school shootings in the context of Parkland or Columbine.
However, planned attacks by heavily armed individuals, which make up much of what we are seeing in 2021, are fights or conflicts that escalate to guns being drawn.
Here are just some examples:
- The recent incident involving gunfire at a school in Arlington, Texas, stemmed from a fight over pencils.
- A 13 year-old boy in Memphis Tennessee shot a fellow student after a fight in a stairwell.
- On September 20th of this year, Newport News VA saw a 15 year-old boy pull a gun from his waist in the midst of a fight in the hallway of his school.
- On September 2nd, in South Los Angeles, gang rivalries resulted in a 17-year-old being shot on a school campus.
The shootings are changing
A Washington Post analysis of 2021 school shootings show some dramatic changes from the past.
They are more frequently happening during the day or at sporting events. Both shooter and victim tend to be students.
None of the 55 incidents in September were premeditated at all.
So…
What is being done to help with this problem of escalating gun violence in and around schools?
For one, some states have recently passed and approved the funding for safety grants. The aim is to help fund the installation of bulletproof glass and metal detectors in educational settings.
The solutions schools are employing
For example, The Texas Education Agency (TEA) worked with the Federal government to appropriate funds to assist with the cost of various security improvements in Texas schools.
Among the allowed items for which schools may expend funds are metal detectors at school entrances and bullet-resistant glass or film for school entrances.
Texas isn’t the only one
Ohio announced earlier this year that public colleges and universities located within the state are eligible for a total of $5 million in security grants, as part of the 2021 Campus Safety Grant Program.
Eligible items funded by this grant include “systems to mitigate damage from blasts, shocks, or impacts, such as column and surface wraps, wall coverings, breakage/shatter resistant glass, window wraps, and deflection shields.”
There’s more to be done
School violence is not going away. When gunfire becomes part of the equation, lives are lost. But are we doing enough? In recent years, parents have sent their children to school trusting that they would be in a safe environment. Unfortunately, this environment is not always as safe as we assume it to be.
This issue is certainly not exclusive to schools in the inner city or in lower socioeconomic pockets. It can happen anywhere – gun violence is certainly a problem in settings like nightclubs, for example.
However, as parents and concerned citizens, we can demand a safer environment from our school boards and school administrative staff. We can demand bulletproof glass to keep the bullets out and weapons detectors at the point of entry to keep the weapons out.
There’s certainly a lot of discussion about the pros and cons of solutions like metal detectors, especially in school settings.
But when lives are at stake and there are solution that could prevent them being lost…
There comes a point where we need to stop discussing and start acting.
