Gunfire on school grounds is a severe problem. And it’s getting bigger and bigger every year as the new cases are replenishing statistics. There are several reasons for these incidents: gun control laws, adolescent mental health, the location and ethnic compound of schools, and more. In this article, we will analyze the reasons and talk about gun violence statistics in America’s educational institutions. Also, we will discuss possible ways to stop these horrific crimes from happening.
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US school shooting problem
The number of gun violence in US schools reached its historical maximum last year. A lot of gun violence essays and topics appear every day, which definitely affects the students. Many free essay examples describe specific cases and their ideas on how to stop them. The more we talk about the issue and ways to solve it, the better it is. After all, it is the life and health of our children we are talking about. Let’s look at the latest numbers of gun-related violations to understand the problem’s scale better.
School shooting statistics
According to K-12 School Shooting Database, the number of school shootings increases every year to its higher level in 2021 by 251 cases per year. And the most common situations in which the accidents occurred are an escalation of a dispute with 720 cases, accidental (203), suicide attempt, illegal activity, and drive-by shooting with 145, 140, and 142 cases, accordingly. For example, mass shootings at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022, that took the lives of 21 people, do not appear often, but they are the deadliest and most horrifying.
If we talk about where the shooters under 18 take guns, the research paper by Everytown says that 80% of them obtained weapons from their homes or relatives or friends’ houses. There can be some actions to prevent these disappointing statistics. We will discuss them later.
Everytown also collected data on the ethical distribution among those involved in attacks. Their data shows that 25 percent of black students are victims of school shootings, although their number of the total K-12 school population is only 15 percent. But the most disturbing data is that in 77 percent of cases, at least one person except the shooter knew about his plans. It’s usually a peer or someone close enough. But this means that tragedy could be prevented.
Child-related gun violence facts and school shooting facts
What do we know about these events? Information about school shootings can help us better understand why they happen and what to do to prevent them. Here are some facts:
- Firearms are the most common cause of death for a child or teenager. 1 out of 10 cases is exactly like this.
- More often than not, a student borrows a weapon to commit a crime from a parent or friend rather than buying it. More than 4 million American children live in homes where loaded guns are carelessly stored. It can become a serious factor in school shootings and suicides.
- You can typically see warning signs in behaviour before the incident. And this can be the key to preventing crimes with gun violence. In a joint study by the Secret Service and Department of Education, they found that 93% of criminals plan their attacks in advance. So recognizing such signs could help save many lives.
How to stop school shootings?
The question that everyone should ask. And there is no straight answer to that. There are plenty of options and actions. Here are some that could be done to save the lives of our children in the future:
- Creating secure firearm storage in houses, where kids wouldn’t have easy access to.
- Raise the age at which the person can purchase a semi-automatic firearm.
- Thorough background checks for any gun sales.
- Special threat assessment programs in schools will help students with an action plan in case of risky situations with examples.
- Take care of improving safety in schools with the involvement of experts.
- Develop an effective emergency plan for each educational institution.
- Improve the education system to support students and provide them with equal opportunities.
- Enact laws that control guns and their proliferation.
This is the smallest list of activities that can be done for schools. There are still a lot of different proposals and essays from many organizations and research institutes. We have to listen to them and make sure that these changes appear in schools, and not just remain on paper.
Conclusion
The statistics we listed above are not just bad, they have reached a critical level. If we don’t do something now and don’t take care of future generations, school shootings could take even more lives. It is within our power to make schools safe and prevent tragedies like those in Texas, Washington, or Philadelphia.