Gun violence is a serious problem plaguing our schools. According to the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES), there have been a total of 327 documented school shootings at public and private elementary and secondary schools for the 2021-2022 school year. Of the 327 shootings,there were 188 shootings with casualties and 139 shootings without casualties.This number is startling as someone who is not only a student, but has younger siblings still in the school system. 

A town close to Oswego has implemented metal detectors in K-12 schools as of Sept.  28. Baldwinsville, my hometown, has made the choice to start the highschool with metal detectors at the front main door. This is a lengthy process that resembles airport security. Watching this happen in my own town is maybe one of the scariest things I’ve experienced, but I also think it is the smartest. Considering the exponential growth of these situations, I feel very grateful that our districts want to keep us safe and stop this before it could become serious for us. I have talked to a few of the students who attend and they shared similar gratitude for this, but also expressed how scary it is that this is now the expectation for districts. 

“It’s extremely scary that we have gotten to this point, but I also feel like if the districts were to act like everything is normal we would be in a far worse place,” Gianna Cousineau, a senior at Baldwinsville said.  I could not agree more with this. It is sickening to think that this is now the new normal, and I worry for future generations of students and teachers. For the 2021-2022 school year NCES reported that the amount of students and staff injured during school shootings was 131. Back in 2015, that number was 20. We as a society need to be screaming at lawmakers to do more about this. 

If you know anyone or have personally been affected by this, you have my absolute condolences. I am writing this to remind everyone that this is an issue and we need to help make change whenever and wherever possible. There are tons of organizations to donate to and places to get more information, like The Sandy Hook Promise, but even just being educated and aware of this is power in itself. I personally feel compelled to be more active about this and I urge everyone else to as well.

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