Since the Columbine shooting in Colorado, there have been 386 school shootings across America, and more than 365,000 students have experienced gun violence. School shootings are on the rise in America, and many students are being affected by them; many students do not feel safe going to school and this is a problem that needs to be stopped. There were more school shootings in 2022 — 46 than in any year since at least 1999.
According to the Sandy Hook Promise website, some signs of a possible shooter can be Suddenly withdrawing from friends, bullying, excessive irritability, experiencing chronic loneliness or social isolation, and expressing persistent thoughts of harming themselves or someone else and these are just some of the indications that you can look out for. If a mass shooting is defined as resulting in the death of four or more people, not including the perpetrator, 175 people have died but more have been impacted.
Building a cohesive and supportive school environment is key to preventing school shootings and traumatic events like other types of mass shootings. Another thing that can prevent school shootings is making mental health services more accessible so that students can reach out whenever they might need them. Decrease isolation, if a student is around more people and feels more comfortable the risk of a shooter emerging is lowered.
Many school shooters get access to the weapons at home or from relatives because of improper storage and unsafe handling, some also can get their weapons from gang affiliation or from illegally purchasing off of the “Black Market”.
In Colorado alone there have been five school shootings including the Columbine shooting in 1999 that killed 15 and injured more than 20 more, the Platte Canyon High School shooting in 2006 that killed two and took six young girls hostage. The Arapahoe high school shooting that left two dead. The STEM school shooting that left one dead and eight injured and finally the recent east shooting that left just one injured.
Overall we could prevent things like this from happening by providing addiquate resources and keeping safe protection on all firearms at all times.
