School Shootings

The topic we chose to research is violence in schools. Statistics show that there is a school shooting in the nation every week of the school year. Some school shootings occur because of bullying among students in schools and other conflicts in their personal life. One hurtful comment can affect hundreds of lives. Our goal is to lower the rates of school shootings. By doing routine safety checks and raising awareness, we will improve safety standards and lower gun violence in schools.

We had a conference call with Dr. George Kazanas, the Superintendent of Midway I.S.D. These are some of the things that he suggested:

· Anybody can make a difference;

· That the Expert and team agreed with the concept of using canine unit for searches randomly;

· Some people act out because they are lonely;

· Some kids feel disappointed or discouraged when they go home;

· Let your voice be heard if it is something you are passionate about;

· Teachers need training for emergency situations (gun shootings);

· Younger kids can meet the dog, to understand why the dog is there and be less scared;

· Try to do your best to be considerate and listen to other people’s opinions;

As a group, we interviewed staff and students all around the Baylor University campus. Here are some of the answers we received to our questions:

1. Do you think its a good idea to implement emergency drills in schools for active shooters?

7 people replied yes and 0 people said no

Comments: Many people said they will much safer if they knew what to do.

2. Do you think K-9 unit searches for drugs and weapons will be a good idea in schools?

8 people said yes and 3 people said no

Comments: Many told us to take into consideration that some students may be scared of dogs.

3. Would a bag search or metal detectors be a good idea to prevent school shootings. Will students be comfortable with it?

2 people said that bag searches will be okay and 2 people said metal detectors will be okay and 8 people said no.

Comments: The main concern with metal detectors and bag searches is that it is an invasion of privacy. Students may not want officials to find other things they may not be able to bring to school, like games, and would feel scared they might get in trouble for other things.

4. Do you think students can make a difference in school safety?

12 people said yes and 0 said no

Other comments-

Many said that the cause of school shootings can be both bullying and conflict at home.

We hope to lower the rates of school shootings. By doing safety checks, making emergency drills required, and raising awareness, we will improve safety standards and lower gun violence in schools.

We brainstormed many ideas to take action to solve our issue. We would like to implement emergency drills in schools, implement K-9 and bag searches, and raise awareness about school shootings and what causes them.

Emergency drills are similar to fire drills, expect they will teach staff and students how to respond to an active shooter on campus. Students need to practice for these emergencies so that they know what to do and are prepared in those situations.

K-9 unit searches and bag searches will happen randomly to prevent students from bringing guns and drugs to school with them. A K-9 unit, for those who don't know, it is a dog that is trained to assist police officers. These dogs are specifically trained to locate things that do no belong at schools. The bag searches would be conducted by school safety officers or other school administration. To prepare students and parents for this additional security measure, flyers and letters will be sent home with additional information.

We will raise awareness about ways to prevent negative things from happening at schools as well. We plan to create and put up posters first to raise awareness of safety measures. The posters will created by clubs in the schools, such as Student Council, Honor Society, and other groups. We will also be making bracelets to pass out to students to wear about this measure, and hope to provide better training to school counselors to prevent violent actions beforehand.

Steps to provide our group feedback:

1. Go to menti.com

2. Type in 47 36 93

3. Submit responses!

Thank you!

School safety and shootings are an extremely relevant topic now. Innocent lives are lost because of this yearly, and we would like to lower the impact of violence in schools so that we can feel safe as students.

www.syracuse.com

www.washingtonpost.com

www.history.com

http://www.neveragain.com/gun-control/

https://marchforourlives.com/