The Brave News

by George Holani and Matthew Ruiz

“School shootings are an unfortunate part of American culture and our American society.”

School shootings are an unnecessarily major part of American society in recent history. This year alone, 10 kids were killed at Santa Fe High School and 17 were killed in the infamous Parkland shooting, where adolescent lives were taken at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

These school shootings were tragic at the time they took place and are still tragic to this day. Families were torn apart because of what happened.

“We shouldn’t alienate students and bully anyone, because that could negatively trigger their mental stability,” said school head of attendance Ms. Margie Woods.

Preventing these school shootings isn’t easy, because there is heavy disagreement on whether or not the Second Amendment should be upheld because of how guns are abused in society.

“If we have safety in and around the school and enough education for our students and our faculty, these [shootings] can be prevented. Teachers shouldn’t carry guns because it would cause mass panic,” said Ms. Woods.

Teachers having guns and being able to obtain them and use them for self-defense when school shooters do intrude is a hot topic, but Woods thinks teachers shouldn’t be able to use them.

“As an American society we must do background checks and especially check for mental health issues with our students and teachers regularly. As a teacher, I don’t feel comfortable with me having a weapon or another teacher having a weapon,” said director of student activities and history teacher Mr. Fernando Avila.

Mr. Avila backs up Ms. Woods in her belief on teachers and firearms and even admits that he himself wouldn’t feel comfortable carrying one.

Students also fear the idea of teachers having and carrying weapons around, such as Bosco junior Nate Quigg.

“Teachers shouldn’t have a weapon in class because an “at-risk” child could pull a gun out and the teacher would have to fire upon that child in self-defense,” said Quigg.

That’s something no teacher would have to ever want to do and creates unnecessary conflicts and potential for disaster.

“If teachers had weapons, there would have to be mental health checks and administration would need to double-check their backgrounds,” said Mr. Avila.

It’s a controversial topic, and definitely a desperate move in hope for preventing school shootings and keeping schools safe in America. Action needs to be taken sometime in the near future.