Gun Violence In School

School Safety at East High

By: Christian Castilleja, Duana Regans, and Daphne Truss

There have been several school shootings across the nation this year. Schools around the United States are now taking more pro caution and measurements to insure their students safety while attending .

After interviewing the teachers and principles of Hazelwood East High School (HEHS), we got a clear understanding on their feeling towards school shootings, gun laws, and their policies to insure the safety of those who attend.

When asked what steps can be taken to make the schools safer, Government teacher Mr.Farrar stated, “ Since it appears our lawmakers aren’t going to help us we should have armed police officers inside the building and also outside the building, I’m also not opposed to metal detectors and not only for our school but for every school in America”.

In the media, extreme controversy about whether or not teachers should be able to bear arms inside of schools has occured.

Mr. Gilomen, a Hazelwood East High School principal, believes “The less firearms you have in the building the safer the environment” he also stated “ I don’t want the opportunity for a firearm to go missing and then that end up being used, whether here at school or out in the community. So, I am not for educators being armed at school”.

Every school across America has their own policies and procedures to make sure students, staff, visitors, and volunteers are safe.

Mr. Gilley, an East High School teacher says,  “Our policies are the best they can be, but when it’s an actual active intruder who knows? People are people. You can have the best plan but that doesn’t mean it’s going to go as planned”.

Schools shooting are becoming more common. In most school shootings, we see that the gunmen are young adult teens that are not old enough to buy a gun legally.

“Eighteen school shootings since January 1st hundreds and hundreds since 1999, after the first one things should’ve changed and nothing has changed. Our congress does nothing” explains Mr.Farrar. when asked what he felt about school shooting and the gunmen he stated “It really hurts cause I have a little girl and it can be her school next; it can be our school. And to think that in this country, where we have all this wealth and all this opportunity, that you can go to school and not come home is sad”.

School safety should be a top priority especially with school shootings becoming more common. So do we sit around and wait for our congress to do something about it? Or do we, the people of this country, take the necessary steps to ensure safety for the schools in the nation?