School Shootings: Save The Students!

In recent years, school shootings have become more and more prevalent in America. In view of this, school security has become a hot topic considering the rise of violence displayed in schools today. In fact, research claims there are on average, one shooting per week this year. These unfortunate and rather unpredictable tragedies are growing exponentially and killing the lives of many innocent schoolchildren. The logic behind these shootings often goes undefined, but there is a multitude of ways to prevent them for future reference. In order to implement safety in our schools, there needs to be an active resource officer presence. Schools should ensure that these officers are trained, entertain the idea of these officers possibly being able to carry a firearm, implement new strategies to improve upon safety, and look deeper into resolving the root of violence.

School security is crucial when it comes to keeping a campus safe. With that being said, it is extremely important that schools hire trained and experienced individuals for the job. Without proper training, the lives of schoolchildren would be in jeopardy. While some may argue that hiring qualified resource officers will not make much of a difference, that is not the case. For example, the Parkland shooting escalated because the resource officer was simply unable to execute the tasks involved with the position. He was a coward, and fled from the school, which left the children inside helpless. With proper training, schools will be able to minimize and eliminate this type of behavior. The Parkland shooting would not have amounted to a mass murder if special, armed officers were present at the time of attack. “We don’t want teachers to be armed,” Fox said, “just like we don’t want police officers to teach math”. This quote is crucial in explaining the importance of having special forces on hand, not an underqualified and unarmed resource officer. Research also goes to prove that the likeliness of a shooting is significantly decreased when there is an armed officer present. For example, local schools such as Roswell High school, have to suppress violence with presence of SWAT team members. There are currently 4,000+ students on this campus, and not one shooting has occurred. When there happened to be a threat, officer Alexander immediately detained the student and the problem was resolved immediately. It is imperative that the American government seeks to hire qualified ex-military and sufficiently trained officers who are capable of minimizing risk.

On the other hand, some argue that nobody should have the right to carry a firearm on campus. People that have such beliefs must realize that if a school under attack did not have a way of defense, an intruder would openly shoot until there is nobody left. There has to be a line of defense within schools these days. For instance, parents and teachers were recently surveyed in the “School article and several opinions’ quote, “Police will scare the kids and cause them to be in more distress”. It is not sensible to have a gun-free campus, and with the implementation of trained and armed resource officers, American schools will be safer. Likewise, probability and outcome of a school shooting changes dramatically simply by the presence of an officer. Therefore, not only should the government replace school security with responsible officers, they must be strategic with their placement. Officers should be scattered throughout campus, protecting high risk and high traffic areas. With this method, officers will increase their chances of protecting the school from violence and harm. In fact, according to over 50% of schools who have tried this strategy have already seen dramatic changes and a decline in violence on school grounds. Therefore, people must work hard to reach this idea across all schools in America. Improved strategies regarding school security, the country will not have to face the loss of so many innocent lives.

Lastly, resource officers tend to give off an intimidation factor on the students. It is proven that people will reconsider their actions if watchful authorities are present. In addition, in school acts of violence, bullying, and other behaviors that are out of line will not go unnoticed with an increased officer presence. As a whole, schools will be safer with qualified resource officers on hand. Schools are in jeopardy, and must seek an immediate change. Without targeting the source of these violent acts, nothing will get accomplished in attempting to make school a safer environment. Too many young children are dying due to the lack of security in schools. Schools will be a safer place if the American government improves upon the training of resource officers, arms the officers, and strategically places these officers around high risk areas of campus. The topic of school safety has been increasingly important, due to the loss of innocent lives. A change needs to be made in order to protect the younger generation.