As a college student studying education, it breaks my heart seeing yet another school shooting. Children go to school feeling like it is their second home, or only home for that matter. Parents send their kids to school in the morning knowing that they are safe, and that they will see them when they get off the bus in the afternoon. My biggest fear as a teacher is having to be in an active shooter situation, because it is not IF it will happen it is WHEN it will happen. Some government and state officials want to arm teachers with guns, but how is that at all a solution? Teachers having to be trained to use a gun in case of an active shooter is as bizarre as it sounds. I do not like getting into the politics of education, but in these circumstances, it is not just guns, or just people, it is a combination. More specifically, how does a child have access to a gun in the first place? It all goes back to the child’s well-being and home life.
What people do not talk about is what makes a child, or even adult, want to do something like this. Our society has the debate over whether it is the gun or the person, like I have previously mentioned. However, even though it is a horrible situation, it all goes back to the psychological aspect of things. The child could be showing signs of mental illness or have something going on and act out like this when it is too late. It can be hard to recognize these signs because they can be assumed as “acting out,” or assumed unimportant. I do not know what it is like to be a parent, but I do know what it is like being a teacher. We have a million responsibilities and so much going on, that we miss these signs and automatically blame ourselves. Although we cannot blame ourselves; what needs to be done is change, when will enough be enough? We need change, and we need it now.