The American public school system is a diverse network of school districts across the 50 states with their own rules, protocols, expectations, and most importantly, realities. One thing that every school shares in common, though, is that it arguably serves as a second home for all children from the time they first step foot into their kindergarten classroom to when they step off the graduation stage and into the real world.
One of the most critical qualities of a home, however, is the comfort of knowing that you are in a safe space surrounded by others who validate that feeling for you. Issues that plague the streets of our country such as gun violence seem to be inapplicable to our lives once we are in the comfort of our own homes—for the most part. However, what differentiates the two safe spaces for children is that one has fallen victim to gun violence in the form of mass shootings, or school shootings, on multiple occasions which introduces a controversial question: Can schools even be considered a safe space anymore?
School shootings have become an unfortunate trend within the United States. With a dramatic increase in the 1990s, this rate has failed to decline since. These mass shootings have left countless communities in the US permanently shaken due to the immense amount of trauma that is inflicted onto countless individuals–specifically children ranging from ages 5-17. According to research conducted by Everytown Research & Policy, approximately three million children in the US are exposed to mass shootings and gun violence with 4,300 unfortunate teenage deaths and a whopping 17,000 gun-related injuries.
Regardless of the concerning statistics of school shootings, due to their frequent occurrences, society has become desensitized to the tragedies. Instead of having serious conversations about gun violence and its immense impact on every American’s life—regardless of whether one is a direct victim or not—it has shifted its focus to endless debates about political, racial, and social status.
However, part of the reason why the aftermath of a school shooting is almost always controversial and leads to setbacks rather than solutions is the cycle that continues to repeat itself in terms of the cause of school shootings, more specifically who is causing them. In almost every case, the shooters are typically young white males who suffer from mental health-related issues that are often deemed as the main reason behind their actions. What should be a call for change in how mental health is addressed in our society, specifically in places such as schools, has turned into a brawl within our communities regarding social issues that drive away all the focus on solving the situation at large. This leaves the victims and their families lost in turmoil.
Junior Nour Howard expressed how passionate she feels about this issue and how many others feel the same. “It’s almost as if they’re brushed off sometimes and the cycle just continues to repeat itself, and it’s gone on for long enough,” she said. “Students come to school to learn, not to be worried about being gunned down.”
Another component of the shootings that makes them unique regardless of it being a recurring pattern, is that a lot of the perpetrators happen to be former students of the schools that they target or are students who are familiar with the student body and area. This is not a mere coincidence, but rather a direct tie to the lack of emotional support for young children. The result? They may carry this into adulthood and be more likely to make bad choices.
Since students are the ones falling victim to a lack of support systems to aid them with any mental health struggles, suggestions from students themselves on what can help reduce this issue is a perfect starting point in solving this greater issue. “I think that along with all the drills that we do, schools should address the cause of school shootings by teaching students to be aware of the warning signs of someone who plans to commit a school shooting,” stated Howard. She believed that this suggestion is not unique to her, but rather shared among many kids who may not alwaysnot have the opportunity nor the courage to voice their opinions. Although this is a step in the right direction, Howard added how “this won’t completely stop school shootings, but it will make students aware of their surroundings and help the school to root out threats and take action which will make the school environment feel much safer for us.”
Sadly, as time progresses, it has become fairly obvious that school shootings have progressed among them, so communities all over the country have taken matters into their own hands and have implemented their solutions—starting right here in Malden.
Principal Christopher Mastrangelo emphasized the importance of prioritizing students’ “social and emotional needs” from a young age to instill the mindset that those around you can serve as support services instead of the opposite. “A lot of times when they see these things happening, they point fingers at the school, and I’m not saying this to be defensive, but we all need to work together—the schools, pediatricians, the parents—and we need to look for red flags. We need to understand that the kids who are doing this are suffering some sort of social and emotional needs,” said Mastrangelo.
Fortunately, Malden High School is not one of the many high schools in this nation that have to experience a living nightmare. However, due to the severity and frequency of the shootings, Malden, along with every other school in the country, has implemented safety measures in case an incident were to occur. They seek to ensure that every student and staff member knows what to do and how to protect themselves and others. Every year, students of all ages participate in practice drills and lockdown procedures where they are taught how to hide from an intruder efficiently and even fight back if necessary.
Another encouraged aspect is to speak up if you ever see or hear about anything that could be of general threat. Principal Christopher Mastrangelo emphasized the importance of this and how the students of Malden fortunately do speak up when encountered with information that could maintain their safety.
”There was something posted on an Instagram page or something last year, that appeared to be a picture of a gun, that also appeared to be downloaded from the internet. But within minutes of it being posted, I had a student in here telling me and after I met with the student I had about six other students waiting to also tell me,” stated Mastrangelo. He proceeded to emphasize his gratitude for the environment at Malden High School since, even after his interaction with those students, their persistence was truly shown. “I checked my email and saw multiple emails informing me of the post. It was awesome to see.”
Despite how prepared students and staff are for what to do in an attack, the harsh reality is that unfortunately, human resistance just is not enough to survive lethal firearms in the majority of instances. This leads to anxious feelings growing within everyone.
“As a teacher and a mom, school shootings are the worst-case nightmare-like scenario. Not only within schools but mass shootings that take place in grocery stores, movie theaters, etc. And so it’s something that is always on my mind and the question of what would I do if it happened where I’m at comes to mind,” stated US history teacher Sarah Straight. Straight recently moved to Malden from New Orleans Louisiana, where, unfortunately, gun violence as a collective is far from a stranger to the area.
“The gun laws are almost nonexistent in the South. Although I’ve always felt fairly safe at all the schools that I’ve worked at, there have been occasions where things were posted to Snapchat that put the school’s safety at risk, and there have been fights where a gun was pulled. But that is just a reflection of the gun violence that is within the city as a whole,” stated Straight.
The arguably overly flexible gun laws in the state of Louisiana are a reflection of the reality of many states in the South that tend to have something in common–their political stances. Louisiana is an example of a majority Republican voting state and because of that conversations arise about whether the gun-friendly tendency of Republicans is a contributing factor to school shootings. This recurring conversation that tends to shift into a political war between political parties within the US fails to fully address the overall problem and that’s reflected in the growing number of communities across the US that suffer from gun violence.
One of the more recent school shootings occurred at Apalachee High School located in Barrow County Georgia on September 4, 2024, and sadly claimed the lives of four people and injured seven other people. The shooter was a 14-year-old boy who was able to have access to the weapon in the first place due to his father allegedly purchasing the weapon for him. This tragedy is a direct result of the state of Georgia’s fairly lax gun laws that allow for incidents such as this to not only occur but to even be possible in a way as simple as it was executed.
Gun violence has rather become a norm in our country and the question of when the next tragedy is to occur has become more default compared to the question of how do we prevent another one from terrorizing our communities.
In a community as diverse as Malden, the diversity isn’t just reflected in the people themselves, but also through the stories that can be traced back all across the world in terms of their experiences. Junior Alecia Louigene who is of Haitian descent described school shootings and the idea of students being put at risk as something that she’s “never heard of or seen in Haiti,” highlighting how this is a US-based problem that can only be solved if measures are taken at a higher level.
“I think that the government itself needs to take school shootings more seriously. I think that senators and others with political power and influence need to start taking a stricter stand against gun violence starting with stricter gun laws but also by possibly implementing crisis intervention programs to help schools find and de-escalate dangerous situations,” expressed Howard who continuously emphasized the importance of closely monitoring who can obtain gun access.
Moving forward, there is no telling in terms of the fate of school shootings in our country as their occurrence is quite frequent, but rather unpredictable at times. By shifting the conversations regarding school shootings to be considered as a violation of safety and an act of inhumanity, rather than just another political debate, the US can progress in terms of preventing future school shootings from occurring, but also heal all the communities and families that are reminded every day of the impact that they can have on one’s life.
One thing for certain, however, is that Malden High School has taken every step in the right direction in terms of preventing any attacks and acknowledging the importance of addressing critical factors that lead to them. Without working together as a united collective regardless of age, race, political stance, etc., school shootings will never ease their way out of our society. And so, the community of Malden urges everyone to take a stand and advocate for this issue even if it seems out of concern because sadly, it could affect us more than we think. Most importantly, if you see something, say something.
