Upon back to school season, so many contributing factors play into the role of how the school year might turn out such as, what new shoes you're wearing or what backpack fits your personality better. But, the one issue that is constantly in the air: are you safe being back in school? With the beginning of the pandemic, schools have shifted online, homework has shifted online, friend groups have shifted online, and thus, creating a new wave of learning. From this pandemic, we have learned that people are able to learn safely from the comfort of their home but with the recent change in COVID-19 guidelines一going back to school is the main priority. In recent times, many districts in the US have commenced the reopening of schools for in-school learning and the general interaction of people altogether. Through this, many students have taken the reopening of schools not well as one of the main issues that many have to face一the possibility of a school shooting.
In 2019, before the pandemic occurred there was a total of 180 school shootings that had occurred nationwide in that year alone一leading students to be constantly alerted and trained in the manner of shooting procedures. Student, Vedika Jawa is currently a senior in Fremont California where the unprecedented numbers of school shootings have escalated over the years. Throughout the article, Jawa mentions growing up in a public school setting and how there were constant procedures that students had learned in the case of a suspected school shooter or of an unwanted visitor. From her experience, she mentions that there is a lot of uncertainty when it comes to being protected in school and the chance of being protected against COVID-19 is much higher than a school shooting. With this being said, “The responsibility for this danger lies solely in the hands of our government-Vedika Jawa.”
When it comes to gun reformation, it lies entirely up to the hands of our government and their ability to manage who has the right ability to carry a firearm for whether they are a threat or not. In my personal experience, gun control is the right way to do so because it does not diminish the second amendment but rather puts more qualifications for the right person to actually carry a firearm. Growing up, my experience has been similar to Vedika Jawa because I also had to learn many school shooter drills during both my middle and high school years. Throughout the end of my Sophomore year in high school, we got an anonymous tip that someone was threatening to shoot up my school from the lunch period towards free period and from this, many police cars showed up and had to escort students if they had to use the bathroom. This personal experience not only impacted the way I view safety, but it impacted my parents from the fact that they pulled me out of school for an entire week due to this “tip” and did not allow me to go back until the district board had cleared up the issue. It comes to show that a child’s life, more-specifically a person’s life is highly valuable no matter what and that gun reformation is something that we should continuously fight for.
On the ending note, has anyone ever had a similar experience to that of Vedika Jawa? What are your thoughts on gun reformation and its portrayal to school? Do you think that the media has romanticized school shootings in a way?
Comment down any thoughts!
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