The recent school shooting in Littleton, Colorado has caused
a huge outrage all over North America. It is very hard to understand
why and how such a horrific event could possibly occur in our
well-educated and properly-informed society.
What is needed in society today is not only reinforced gun
laws or tightened security in schools. These things are obviously
a necessity. However, I believe that we should be focusing more
of our efforts on the individual teens and their problems. By
doing this, we may be able to prevent or at least minimize incidents
such as these. That said, no matter what steps are taken, it
would be unrealistic to think that it is possible to completely
prevent such a disaster from repeating itself.
Prevention is not a cure but it can help police officials
in protecting the school and the potential victims for the future.
However, it offers no solution or comfort to those victims and
families who are so devastated because of acts that have already
been committed. I truly believe that lack of attention is the
main cause in these horrible tragedies. If we as a society put
more emphasis on helping teens and possibly understanding them,
rather than dismissing them as hard cases', we may be able
to work towards a safer learning environment.
Being a teenager today is sometimes considered rough and awkward.
I may not be an expert in decoding the teenage brain, however
I am a teenager and I can definitely see something wrong with
the rise in statistics of school violence each year. I'm lucky
to live in a place where school violence isn't really a concern,
but there are people everywhere who have to deal with this type
of thing every day of their lives.
Are we safe in school? This should not be a question that
needs to be asked. If I had to go to school everyday worrying
that I might be the victim of school violence, I don't know how
I'd feel dealing with the other things in my life. Socially,
teens have a lot of pressure put on them to fit in and to be
cool'. This can cause so much of a stress in our lives, that
it is hard to deal with the other things in our lives such as
family and school. School should feel safe to everyone, not only
because it's where we have to go to learn, but because it should
offer a sort of comfort and support to those who do not feel
secure socially or emotionally. There are kids today that go
to school in complete fear of being attacked, or worse, even
killed.
School is frequently referred to as 'a safe learning environment'.
Can we really say that, if it isn't true? A 'safe learning environment'
would include worry-free students and a violence-free environment
for everyone. Incidents like that in Colorado prove that we are
not living in a violence- free society and nowhere is completely
safe. So, even if I do feel fairly safe in my school now, thanks
to the recent shootings in small towns like Littleton, remote,
'safe' places everywhere can no longer feel as though they are
not at risk. The words safe school' are losing all credibility
and we are surrendering to a society where violence and murder
do exist and are present everywhere.
Despite all the highly publicized school shootings in places
like Jonesboro, Arkansas and Littleton, Colorado, there are the
'little' things like threats and name-calling that are going
almost unnoticed. There is the mindset that these things are
going to happen with any kind of teenage interaction, because
for the most part, kids will be kids and they will fight.
Raising awareness about school violence has its benefits,
but it's obviously not enough to stop it. There is no sure solution
to this ongoing problem, but the more we know about it, the more
we can work towards a solution, at least we can sympathize with
those who have to go through it and offer support while we try
to understand their pain. The victims and families of the terrifying
and traumatic disaster in Colorado are just the most recent statistics
in this horrible and growing problem. Hopefully they'll be the
last, but it's very probable that they won't. All we can do is
wait and watch while other schools get the same unfair and unexpected
instant popularity that comes with a school shooting of this
nature.
While there are many efforts being made now to end this chain
of school violence reports, tragedies are not entirely preventable.
So despite all the hard work going into preventing such tragedies
from ever happening again, if we don't get to the base of the
problem, we are just scratching the surface. A topic of this
importance needs and deserves more than that. We should really
take our cue from these cries for help from Colorado and Jonesboro
and pay attention to what they are saying. Because in the end,
we are going to save ourselves, and I believe that for that reason,
if for no other, it's worth our undivided attention. |