Every year, thousands of students and teachers are forced to face the danger of a possible shooting at their school. According to Everytown For Gun Safety, an organization dedicated to ending gun violence, there have been “109 incidents of gunfire on school grounds, resulting in 33 deaths and 106 injuries nationally” in 2025 so far. Many students feel as though their schools and the adults around them are ill-prepared for a possible shooting, while these teachers and adults feel that they are prepared. What can be agreed on by both sides is that the correct actions are not being taken to properly keep people safe in these situations.
When students were asked about when they first learned about the seriousness of school shootings, many of them stated that they were as young as five or six, in kindergarten or first grade. Carrying the weight of this reality from such a young age has impacted the education of countless students. Coronado High School student Charlize Roberts, class of 2027, states that, “Every time the intercom goes off, my heart drops.” She says that there have been several occasions where she noticed the security around campus acting strangely, and was afraid enough to call her parents to go home. Charlize is not alone in this fear, as many students have been in similar situations and believe there needs to be updates made to what is being taught to students during drills to better protect themselves.
School shootings have impacted not only the students’ education, but also how teachers run their classrooms. Mr. Edmund, English teacher at Coronado High School, explains, “Starting with the Columbine shooting in 1999, I began locking my classroom door. I’ve also incorporated discussions into my lessons regarding the possible causes and solutions to these incidents.” Many teachers, as well as the school administration, believe that the current drills and security at school are not the problem when it comes to being prepared. Mr. Edmund suggests that the drills need to be taken more seriously and that students should pay close attention to their peers for warning signs. These include things like threats posted on social media and what is being said to peers in school.
Outside of the classroom, many people believe that the government has a responsibility to assist in improving the reality of this issue. According to Mr. Ziser, AP Government teacher at Coronado High School, there are two main sides to this issue: one believes the problem is due to a lack of gun control, and the other focuses on mental health. Despite both sides having a large support group, “more often than not, in the wake of these school shootings, very little meaningful policy change comes about,” says Mr. Ziser.
On the other hand, there has been a generational shift in how the conversation about school shootings is addressed. Members of Gen Z have been more willing to talk about these issues unlike past generations. Students who were victims of the Parkland shooting, among others, have become politically active in party politics in order to address this problem. This is a promising step in finding better solutions to school shootings and gun violence as a whole.
