18 school shootings since January 1, 2018, averaging 3 gun-related incidents per week including the deadly St. Valentine massacre of Parkland, Florida where 17 highschool students lost their lives plus another 14, who were seriously injured, which immensely outweighs the St. Valentine massacre of 1929, where only 7 seven men (mostly mobsters) were murdered in cold blood. So what is going on? Isn’t it bad enough that America has to cope with the threatening of international terrorism, lone wolf attacks, drug cartel retaliation, hate crimes, serial killings and gang violence, but now we have to deal with the safety of our own children’s school playgrounds! I don’t know about you, but I would hate the fact that a war zone can actually take place in the realms of my own back yard if things continues this way, which I see as a very high possibility in the not too-distant future!
So what is the answer? How can we stop this epidemic from happening again or at least slow it down a little? Many Americans are screaming “gun control” which have to overcome obstacles like powerful organizations and political influence, but there is one interesting fact regarding this objective and it involves the country of Australia, who have one of the lowest school-shooting incidents in the world since 1996 and this amazing feat was accomplished by a national gun-sweep where the state and local governments initiated a buy-back policy and collected approximately 1/5 of all firearms in circulation and enacted a mandated federal law prohibiting private gun sales requiring all weapons to be individually registered to the owner, who have to give a “genuine reason” for needing each weapon at the time of purchase. (Self-defense did not count) and this movement greatly reduced firearm related homicides by 59%...a little more than half!
Another alternative concerned citizens are suggesting to prevent gun violence in our public schools is to heightened up “security”, but how much is the federal, state and local governments willing to spend on this concept? And much security is needed to make our public schools fool proof or actually bullet-proof that will guarantee the safety of our children and not interfere with the regular chores of day to day school activities and educational programs? The city of Las Vegas, which has one of the most advanced security systems in the country also known as the “miniature surveillance state”, where it’s casinos spent decades in perfecting their security with the eye in the sky technology that watches everybody and cameras on almost every street corner of hotels, restuarants etc...yet what happened on October 1, 2017 where a sniper sneaked into the Mandalay Bay hotel with a load of semi-automatic weapons and killed approximately 58 innocent bystanders attending a outside concert. Even the White House itself, whose elite secret service are supposed to protect our very own President, had a security breach when Omar Gonzalez jumped over the fence of the White House on September 19, 2014 and entered through the North Portico door and ran wildly through most of the main floor before being tackled by a counter assault agent. And these agents are highly trained individuals and yet some are suggesting to train our school teachers with anti-terrorist tactics and carry a firearm? To what level do we train them to be sufficient enough? So my question remains...how much security is enough security to once again create a safe haven in our schools and at what expense. Are you the humble taxpayer willing to fit the bill? How about those unfortunate ones who cannot afford it?
What does seems very possible if this current rate of gun violence continues is the up-lifting of private tutoring, on-line and distant-learning classrooms and independent school studies, which may or may not enhance the student’s intellectual learning process that can easily be more costly for the parent likewise financially beneficial for the qualified instructor. Many parents may feel taking this route may be a small price to pay as long as we can prevent our children from harm’s way, but what of the student’s social values? Like attending the Christmas formal, the highschool prom, school sponsored sports events, the athletic understanding behind teamwork, the joys of winning a championship or the disappointments of losing one, the up and down cycle of highschool romances, the personal or inner challenges of your very first fist-fight or speaking in front of a classroom, which all signifies the normal adolescent process of a healthy child’s growing pains
I guess one alternative into replacing the school-orientated social building process is the boys will be able to improve their skills on video games (hopefully none that include firearms) while the girls update Snapshots on their cell phones or mingle on Facebook during their school recess because of the easy accessibility. Are social values that important? Can parents somehow duplicate school-related recreational activities at home, or replenish them with more healthier choices and possibly open a new specialized field for some consulting firms and counseling service. For many this is also a small price to pay in exchange for their child’s safety, but will different or unusual behavioral patterns surfaced? And who be willing to be the guardians or the new dean of schools to closely monitor their activities...you? Do you have time or the money? I think if this chaotic disease of gun violence progresses many parents will prevent their children from attending public schools, which may minimized their yearly budget because of the lack of attendance and either closed down the smaller schools or forced them to merge with the larger ones, and school teachers will either lose their jobs due to the insufficiency of state funds or leave to the private sector for better pay. This theory is, of course, just pure speculation on my part, but then again what do I know...I’m just a loudmouth rebel without a cause!
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