School Shootings

School Shootings : Is a Possible Solution as Simple

THESIS: There was a time in this country when everyone could walk around with a

gun. We would teach our children how to use them to hunt for food and if need be protect the family and home. Yet with all that access you never heard of a child going into a school and killing everyone. We are suppose to have advanced, gotten wiser and still with all of today's technology we can't seem to prevent a child from walking into a class room and shooting someone. Where are we going wrong? I feel that we are not listing to or communicating with our children enough, nor are we dealing with the bulling in our school systems that are children have to live everyday. The answer is not more gun control laws.

"If we can put a man on the moon, why can't we stop violence in our schools?" A

student asked President Clinton, he couldn't answer it then and we can't answer it now

(Furrell).

There was a time in this country when everyone could walk around with a gun. We

would teach our children how to use them to hunt for food and if need be protect the family and

home. Yet with all that access you never heard of a child going into a school and killing

everyone. We are suppose to have advanced, gotten wiser and still with all of today's

technology we can't seem to prevent a child from walking into a class room and

shooting someone or everyone. Where are we going wrong?

On October 12, 2004, Everly, Iowa, 15 year old Joseph Menke was arrested after police

found a .22 caliber High Standard revolver in his possession. Fortunately no one was killed or

injured. It was said he was upset over ongoing teasing and bulling from other students.

On February 2, 1996, Moses Lake, Washington, two students and one teacher was killed,

one other wounded when 14 year old Berry Loukaitis opened fire on his algebra class (Time

Line).

From Bethel, Alaska to Savannah, Georgia it seems that there is no city to big or too

small that is safe from the possibility of a child walking into school and shooting someone or

everyone. There hasn't been one city that would have been more obvious than another in

helping authorities to determine what school this could happen in next.

In March 1994 Congress adopted and President Clinton signed into Law the Educate

America Act: Goals 2000, Goal 6 was "that by the year 2000 every School in America will be

free of drugs and violence and will offer a disciplined environment conductive to learning."

The supporting narrative for this goal states that "no child or youth should be fearful on the way

to school, be afraid while there, or have to cope with pressures to make unhealthy choices"

(Futrell).

In 1998 Attorney General Janet Reno convened a panel of experts, at the behest of

President Clinton, to look at ways to prevent these tragedies. Participant Dennis Denny, director

of research for the Police Executive Research Forum, said panelists discussed a variety of

solutions--"after-school program, mental health counseling, student problems solving."

"March 2000 President Clinton urged congressional lawmakers to enact a long stalled

package of new gun control laws" wrote Major Garret (CNN.com).

Here we are 2007 still dealing with the same Question. Why can't we stop violence in

our schools? Why do we feel that more gun control or adding more guards and metal detectors is

the answer and will eliminate school shootings?

We have educators, parents, and every other adult in the United States dealing out quick-

fixes, pointing the finger at anyone and "to think the federal government will just pass three

more laws and somehow that's going to give us more peace and more hope for our young

people is such an unrealistic view," said Rep. John Dasich, R-Ohio. "It's not the answer" (CNN-

Violent). More gun laws, metal detectors and guards in schools are not the answers to stopping

school shootings. In an interview with film maker Michael Moore he stated that in Canada he

assumed that a lack of guns contributed to the relative peace. He was wrong, "There are 7

million guns in 10 million households in Canada, yet they don't kill each other," Moore says. "It

blew apart my whole theory. It's not about the guns. It's about us. But what is it about

us" (Thomas)?

With everyone behind more gun control laws, while this is crucial, we might be missing

the bigger picture, communication between child and parent. With better communication we

might be able to see warning signs so that we may intervene before it comes to school shootings.

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