School shootings are a sad reality that continues to plague our society with no relief in sight. There is so much beyond our control, but there are some things we can do to keep our school community safe.
All around the United States, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of school shootings, ranging from elementary schools to high schools. Daily cases of student-targeted shootings; isn’t school supposed to be a safe place?
According to Christopher Wolf from U.S. News, “In 2023, there were 346 school shooting incidents across the country, meaning the U.S. averaged nearly one incident every day and saw its highest total on record since 1966. California and Ohio tied for the most incidents among states last year, at 25 each, while Texas saw 23 in that period. Nationwide, the incidents resulted in 248 victims either wounded or killed, not including the shooter.” Attending school has caused many young students to die in a quick second. Many lives have been lost and families have become emotionally damaged because they have family members who work in a school or attend school for learning purposes.
There have been many cases all across the United States, not so long ago there was a shooting that happened in Iowa because of a student's mental health. An AP News story by Nicholas Riccardi and Hannah Fingerhut announced that a 17-year-old named Dylan Butler killed a sixth grader and wounded five others in the Perry Middle School and High School building on January 4, 2024. Butler took his own life after the shooting. His sister and mother claimed that Butler had been getting bullied since he was in elementary school and it was starting to happen to his little sister too. His parents had brought it up to the school and said that Butler was very tired of the bullying and hurt by it.
Many students struggle with mental health and as a community, we should change that. To prevent school shootings in the community, there is a need to have access to programs that encourage open conversations about mental health and give support services to students who may be struggling. Neuwirth’s Social Worker and member of the counseling team, Mr. Diaz, offers emotional support to students who may have a hard time dealing with certain situations based on past experiences. As he is known to provide emotional assistance to scholars here at Neuwirth, Mr. Diaz communicates that "The Neuwirth Counseling team provides scholars with mental health and academic support, referrals to therapy services, and additional outside resources. Scholars have the opportunity to refer themselves or a friend to receive a mental health/counseling check-in with anyone from the Neuwirth mental health team by submitting a counseling self-referral form, letting their teacher know that they are interested in support from the counseling team, or by walking into the counseling office. There are 2 easy ways to locate the counseling self-referral form:
1. Check out the Neuwirth Leadership Academy website, Click on the “Students” tab, then on “Student Services". Scholars will find the “Counseling Self-Referral” form link on the right side of the web page.
2. There is a "Ways to Reach Out for Support" document in every classroom with a QR code to locate the counseling self-referral form along with other resources. Come visit us!"
As much as Mr. Diaz tries to offer his best support to students inside of school and advise them to take the correct paths, it isn’t up to the school community to have control over the actions of outsiders.
Who is it up to? We can and should advocate for stricter gun control measures to prevent weapons from falling into the wrong hands. For example, we should put pressure on our representatives to strengthen background checks for every gun that is purchased. We can ask and advocate for our school to increase security on our campus and maybe that will make Neuwrith safer. While you can’t change the laws today or fix all the problems, what you can do is have the courage to communicate with an adult or staff at school when hearing or noticing something that has to do with weapons or school shootings. You can save many lives and as a community, we can work together to create a safe and nurturing environment for all students.
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