May 11, 2023

Twenty-six, seventeen, thirty-two, twenty-one, six…these are numbers that carry great meaning to certain people across the United States: The twenty-six killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting; The seventeen slain in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting; The thirty-two slaughtered in the 2007 Virginia Tech shooting; The twenty-one murdered at the 2022 Robb Elementary school shooting; and most recently (as of this writing— this has been updated twice), the six lost in the 2023 Covenant School shooting in Nashville, Tennessee. Beyond the many painful numbers and the unquantifiable sadness and frustration felt by survivors, one ultimate question remains: When will American students be able to attend school without the fear of being murdered?

From the time my class was in elementary school, lockdown drills were programmed into us just as much as fire and tornado drills. We never questioned this practice—we accepted that these drills were intended to keep us safe. While lockdown drills are certainly necessary as things stand, the focus on reacting to brutal tragedies is an incomplete response. Why should we, as students, have to know how to react to violence when the focus could be placed on the root issue of firearm accessibility? Why are people able to easily acquire weapons that can cause many casualties in a matter of minutes?

Stricter gun laws have been a topic of debate for many years, but no legal changes ever seem to get far enough through the political process to be enacted. The same pattern recurs: a school shooting takes place, it is on main news feeds for about two weeks, thoughts and prayers are sent to those affected, and shortly after, the innocent lives taken become nothing more than a statistic. 

I am familiar with the feelings of those who do not think that changes need to be made to current firearm laws. They cite the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and believe that the protection provided by firearms will always be necessary because no one can control the actions of all people at all times. 

Even if someone felt this way, I have to question why the government is worrying about issues that don’t involve life or death when children are getting killed every year. I’m not advocating for the complete outlawing of guns, but having stricter gun control laws would be incredibly beneficial. Such laws could keep weapons out of the hands of young people and others that should not have them.

Every student in America sets foot in school without knowing if they will come back out alive. It is terrifying. Like all students, I should feel safe attending school. My biggest worries should stem from tough subject matter and difficult homework. Parents should not have to brood about getting a last text from their children in the midst of a massacre. 

How many more will it take for action to be taken? Aren’t twenty-six, seventeen, thirty-two, twenty-one, six and so many more enough? How many more young lives need to be taken for reform to occur?

Thoughts and prayers.