Apalachee High School, located in Barrow County, GA, is just 44 miles from Pace Academy. For a lot of families in our community, school shootings became a legitimate harsh reality in our world after what happened at Apalachee. 14 year old Colt Gray murdered four students and teachers and left several others injured. Colt has been charged with four counts of murder, and his father faces counts of second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children.
School shooting. A term that is ugly and uncomfortable and disturbing. Associating a school with a shooting feels wrong, because it is. School is supposed to be a place of learning where children can feel safe, and ideally students and teachers help build a community centered around growth. A shooting, however, is an unpleasant, gloomy word that spells out tragedy. The fact that the term, “school shooting,” exists points to how the United States has normalized this recurring predicament. At the end of the day, isn’t the protection of our schools and the protection of children the most important thing? Why is it that after all of these “school shootings,” there has still not been a major adjustment in the system and policy of mental health, the isolation and bullying of students or even the access to firearms?
Stopping the violence in schools is important, not only to protect future lives but to ensure the memory of those we’ve lost is not in vain. Improving the policy surrounding mental health is a great step the U.S can take to be safer. By looking at Colt Gray’s life for example, an outsider can see how mental illness absorbed his brain. Gray lived in a household filled with drug abuse, domestic violence, rage and irresponsible family members. Both of Gray’s parents were addicted to painkillers and his mom was on meth. His parents beat him and did not show proper means of affection. This situation can make anyone develop a mental illness, and when this is not tended to, it can become more destructive. There are many people with mental illness who don’t respond with such violence and evil, so Gray does not exactly have an excuse for his unforgivable behavior. But, Colt was supposed to go to the school counselor the day he committed the shooting, and it makes anyone think that this situation maybe could have been prevented if Colt had made it to the counselor before he even entered his first class that day. More generally, the U.S can create stronger policies around mental health by enforcing that troubled kids like Colt have to meet with counselors, especially because there were very obvious signs of affliction for years; he had been flagged online for threatening to commit a school shooting and searched the internet for how to kill his parents, via the Washington Post. Maybe meeting privately with a counselor would give Colt the opportunity to address his brutal home life and therefore be protected from his family. As well, teachers can play a major role in looking out for students because they are the trusted adults that see the same kids everyday. If teachers make themselves available to students as a trusted ally, kids can gain another person in their life to talk to.
Similarly to the protection of students’ mental well-being, schools have room for improvement on dismantling the isolation of students. Isolation, loneliness and bullying can collectively create mental illness, and it’s not a secret that isolation is felt heavier than ever in schools due to increased phone usage. However, many parents are outraged that schools may not permit students to have their phones in hand, amidst a tragedy like Apalachee. Critics of phone bans argue that a ban could cut off a possible lifeline for parents to make sure their children are safe during school shootings or other emergencies. Phones could be the device used to call parents, inform 911 of the situation, or even leave messages that students fear could end up being final goodbyes.
Fortunately at Pace Academy, a benevolent community is grounded by carefully interested faculty and sympathetic students. “Pace does support its students because they have guidance counselors, deans and college counselors all to help console students throughout high school,” says senior Davis Trimble. Pace has succeeded in giving every student access to multiple trusted individuals, all with the goal of protecting the mental health of the student body. “I feel like when you go and make an effort to talk about mental health and not hide it, students feel good,” remarks senior Miles Glover. It’s assuring that Pace is not trying to hide the negative stigma that was once surrounded with mental health. Furthermore, Head of the Upper School Mr. Michael Gannon emphasizes that Pace is a tight-knit community focused on making sure every student has a trusted adult to talk to. “At its core though this is because we are a community that knows and cares for each other.” As well, the physical safety of the Pace community is nothing to be concerned about. “Pace routinely assesses the safety and security of our campus. I come to work each day because I believe it’s a safe place. There are visible elements to this like APD on campus,” continues Mr. Gannon. While Pace clearly has the resources to protect its community, it’s important that every school across the country should be able to feel the same level of security and personal connection.
The access to firearms is the most controversial part of discussing school shootings. Some people are so fixated on their Second Amendment rights that they ignore the existence and sad reality of school shootings. Alex Jones famously argued that what happened at Sandy Hook was a hoax filled with actors and he has since been found liable of defamation towards the families of the victims. While others who oppose gun control are less extreme, there are statistics that point out that access to firearms does lower the amount of mass shootings. According to a study from the National Library of Medicine and National Center for Biotechnology Information, higher rates of state-level gun ownership are associated with higher rates of K-12 school mass shootings. Looking back at how Colt Gray was allowed into a position to commit a shooting, it’s important to remember that he was given a gun and ammunition from his family. Even though some critics of gun control may argue that he could’ve gotten his hands on a gun anyway, the bottom line is that his access to a gun was way too easy for him. His father should not have even been allowed to buy a gun. If the U.S. can not agree on even slightly enforced gun control, (which is expected), the country must come together to find another reasonable way to protect our schools.
Schools should be prioritizing dialogue and agreeing on proactive measures of safety to more effectively address the root causes of these incidents.
