Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Mrs.Price
English II Honors
17 October, 2018
School Shootings
Since January first of 2018, there have been 154 school shootings. Just in May of 2018,
there was 23 shooting in 21 weeks. Meaning there was a shooting per week where at least one
person was killed or hurt. By June the statics reach almost one school shooting a day. Like the
amount of shooting, the number of mass shootings is rising. A mass shooting is where four or
more people are shot and killed. The whole community is greatly affected and suffers because of
these shootings. Many can see that one of the greatest obstacle faced by generation Z is school
shootings and gun violence to solve this there need to be more gun regulations and to secure
Year-by-year school shootings are getting more deadly. From 1979 to the 2000s The
average of the deaths in school shooting rose from 12 to 55. Survivors can suffer from a
posttraumatic stress disorder and this can be very detrimental like doctor Matthew Tull said:
“likewise, people with PTSD often have problems at school and are less likely to make it through
high school or college”. These school shootings can affect the rest of the survivors live and they
have to carry this traumatic event with them. The community and families are never the same
and can also suffer for mental illness. Melissa Dumaz founder of Uhelpyou states “It is common
for those affected directly and indirectly to have increased anxiety, depression, absence of
feelings of safety and security, increased anger, hyper-vigilance, grief, loss, and guilt” and this is
only a small portion of the effects. In other words, this increase of shootings are causing the
school environment to not be seen as a safe place and is causing a rise in mental illnesses in the
community and the families grieving. Another key point is that the majority of the shootings
were adolescents, ages 11 through 18. This means that kids are able to easily get a firearm that
they use to fulfill bad choices or decisions. Adolescents often suffer from mental health issues
and poor conflict resolution skills. It is more alarming that studies prove many kids with mental
illness have firearms that are unlocked at home “adolescents with self-reported mental health
condition were as likely to report easy access to household firearm”(Ilgen MA, Zivin K). In
today’s time, these factors are a direct cause of school shootings. Many of the school shooters
had mental issues and because of lack of reasoning they go to school and hurt people. A gun
Making guns less convent to the wrong people will decrease the number of school
shootings. To keep guns out of the wrong hands there need to be stronger gun laws and more
regulations. 19 of the mass shooting guns were bought legally with a background check and at
least nine of the shooters have mental illnesses or had a criminal record, showing anyone can
easily get a gun. JAMA international medicine study showed that states with stronger firearm
laws had lower rates of firearm homicides and on the other side of the spectrum the states with
weaker gun laws had more. For instance “After a mass shooting that led to the deaths of 35
people in Australia in 1996, the country enacted stricter gun control and initiated a major gun
buyback program. They have only had one school shooting since”(Robyn Pennacchia). America
should take this as an example of how stronger gun laws will help this violence. This state is
proof that the requirements of regulations in the United States need to be raised. This was even
confirmed in a study by the American Journal of Public Health that showed a relation with gun
laws and deaths by firearm “minimally restrictive "right to carry" laws with a 6.5% increase in
total homicide rates and an 8.6% higher firearm homicide rates.” The right to carry allows people
the carry a concealed gun in public and around others. When this right had fewer guidelines and
rules there were more deaths. Another way to keep guns out of the wrong hands is to lock up
As said before other areas have been successful with applying sterner gun laws and had a
positive reaction. A different solution is to lock up guns to make guns less accessible for kids to
obtain. Of the school shooting “80 percent were taken from the child’s home or those of relatives
or friends”(Cox John and Rich Steven). Many of those shootings would not have happened if the
gun was secured and the child did not have access to it. The school shooters should have never
had a gun in the first place, and all could be prevented if the gun owner took the right
precautions. In The Washington Post’s article reveals there are “More than dozen devices for
under $250 designed to secure pistols like the one used in the Marshall shooting”(Haber Bill).All
those losses could have been avoided only if a simple action was made. The price to lock up a
gun is very cheap and is not a hard demand to make into a law. This restriction is a small price to
Stricture gun laws could lower the abundance of school shootings in generation Z and
save many lives. The gun problem in generation Z can be helped if adults take action to keep
guns from the wrong hands. It is time to end this epidemic and take action to keep schools safe.
Really at the end of the day, a gun unlocked and unregulated is never worth a child's life.
Work Cited
Melia Robinson, Skye Gould and Samantha Lee, “There have been 154 mass shootings in the
US so far in 2018 — here's the full list, publishes the year of 2018”, 2018,
https://www.businessinsider.com/how-many-mass-shootings-in-america-this-year-2018-
2, 17 October 2018
Jugal K. Patel, “After Sandy Hook, More Than 400 People Have Been Shot in Over 200 School
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/15/us/school-shootings-sandy-hook-
Saeed Ahmed and Christina Walker, “There has been, on average, 1 school shooting every week
Antonis Katsiyannis, “Study shows rapid rise in mass school shootings in the US”, phys.org,
Robyn Pennacchia, “The scientifically proven explanation for why better gun control really will
explanation-for-why-better-gun-control-really-will-stop-school-violence/amp/, Accessed
17 October 2018
Sonam Sheth, “States with stricter gun control and higher mental health expenditure have fewer
https://amp.businessinsider.com/study-states-with-stricter-gun-control-have-fewer-
Science News from research organizations, “Rapid rise in mas school shootings in the United
States, study shows”, Science Daily, 2018,
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/04/180419131025.htm, Accessed 17
October 2018
John Woodrow Cox and Steven Rich, “‘The Gun’s Not in The Closet’”, the Washington Post,
2018,https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/local/wp/2018/08/01/feature/school-
shootings-should-parents-be-charged-for-failing-to-lock-up-guns-used-by-their-