School Buzzer System

Winston Salem, North Carolina (January 20). Italy, Texas (January 22). Benton, Kentucky (January 23). Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (January 31). Los Angeles, California (February 1). Oxon Hill, Maryland (February 5). Nashville, Tennessee (February 9). Parkland, Florida (February 14). Savannah, Georgia (February 24). Itta Bena, Mississippi (February 27). Norfolk, Virginia (February 27). Mount Pleasant, Michigan (March 2). Jackson, Mississippi (March 7). Birmingham, Alabama (March 7). Mobile, Alabama (March 8). Seaside, California (March 13). Lexington Park, Maryland (March 20). Gloversville, New York (April 9). Raytown, Missouri (April 12). Ocala, Florida (April 20). In 2018 alone, the United States has been subject to 20

school shootings with at least one casualty. For reference, there have only been 16 weeks in 2018 so far. That means that there have been around 1.25 shootings per week in US schools (Ahmed and Walker). The horrific incident at Parkland was not the first shooting that has occured in this violent year, and it was not the last. Thoughts and prayers are no longer enough to protect our country’s children. Unfulfilled promises and unpassed bills are the reason why many mothers have lost children, countless children have lost siblings, and far too many students have lost teachers and peers. It is imperative, now more than ever, that we find a solution to this problem. The levels of uncertainty and unsafety clouding our children’s education is unexceptable. It is our duty as a country to find a way to improve school safety and end school gun violence.
A few months ago I was sitting in a study room with a few friends. There was no teacher in the room, so naturally the conversation eventually drifted away from US History. One might guess that we began to talk about our plans for the weekend, or what happened on The Bachelor the night before, but unfortunately that’s not the case. Instead of working on our homework, we began discussing what we would do if our school went into a lockdown. We spent the next ten minutes planning how to lock the doors, cover the windows, and turn off the lights. We brainstormed where we would hide and how we would act. If this doesn’t seem bad enough, this wasn't an isolated event. While relaying the story to friends the next day, I found out that many of them had gone through similar experiences. As a group we began discussing how we were all afraid that something tragic would happen at our school. We feared that the widespread gun violence that has struck our country would make its way to our school. In the end, we were all angry that this was a conversation we had to have.
On April 20, 1999, two Columbine High School seniors opened fire inside the school. They killed twelve students and one teacher, and injured 23 others before commiting suicide. The shooting sparked widespread debate over how to move forward. No one know who to hold accountable. The two perpetrators of the crime were dead, but the victims and their families needed more. After this shooting, many Americans hoped the end to gun violence was near. They hoped that this would be the last school shooting in the US. They prayed that it would be the wakeup call gun activists needed.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Following the Columbine Shooting, very little was done to prevent future school incidents. Now, almost twenty years after Columbine, not much has changed. At the time, the Columbine Shooting shocked America. It was the deadliest shooting attack in the US at the time. Now, it doesn’t even rank in the top ten (Willingham and Levenson). Since then, more than 187 thousand students have been subject to school gun violence in the US. There have been an average of ten school shooting each year, and that number is subject to increase. The worst year on record before 2018 had fifteen school shootings. Five months into the year, we have already exceeded that value. More than 130 teachers and students have been killed during school and over 250 have been injured. 36 states and DC have suffered from at least one school shooting (Cox and Rich).
Yet, despite all this tragedy, nothing has been done. No laws have been passed, few have been brought to justice, and all promises have been left unfulfilled. Lawmakers have seemed unfased by the level of destruction guns have brought to our schools. They are quick to place blame on everything and anything, except the weapons themselves. If the shooter is mentally ill, than the problem is mental illness. If the shooter showed signs of violence, it’s his parents’ faults for not noticing. If the shooter gets into the school with little resistance, than the problem is lack of security.
Dozens of possible solutions have been put on the table, although, arguably, very few have a chance of solving the problem. After the Parkland Shooting, President Donald Trump suggested that teachers should begin to carry guns. When speaking of Coach Aaron Feiss, who died protecting students from the gunman, Trump first commended his bravery. He then added, “But if he had a firearm, he wouldn’t have had to run, he would have shot him, and that would have been the end of it.” Yet what Trump fails to see is that this plan would likely do little to nothing to stop an armed school shooter. Stoneman Douglas High School had an armed sheriff’s deputy on campus who couldn’t stop the shooting. In the end, even an experienced guard cannot stop someone with a semiautomatic weapon. So, how would an inexperienced teacher do any better?
Other lawmakers have proposed providing schools with a buzzer system.

This system means that all guests have to ring a bell and state their name and purpose before entering a school. Despite the appeal of this system, it is also unlikely to help. Between 2013 and 2015, more than 56% of shootings were carried out by minors (Everytown Research). As buzzer systems do not require students (or minors who appear to be students) to buzz in, they will likely be ineffective. Even if the gunman isn’t a student, the buzzer system will still not be enough. The shooter from Sandy Hook Elementary school, who was 20 at the time, got through the school’s buzzer system within 30 seconds. Time and time again, this system has failed us. It is time to look for another

way.
Others think that the way to stop school gun violence is to stop shooters before they become shooters.

After a school shooting, the parents of the gunmen are often blamed for the attack. People believe that someone who has the ability to kill dozens of children must show some signs of violence or hatred beforehand. They think that if parents, teachers, or adminstrators paid more attention, shooters wouldn’t become shooters. Unfortunetly, that’s not the case. According to David R. Conners, the head of Connor Security Consulting Services and a former police officer, “The perpetrators are very often not the bullies or the guys roughing people up. Quite often, it’s the guy who is quiet.” It is significantly harder than people may think to identify a possible gunmen. Many show few, or no, signs that they will eventually carry out this type of attack. Even if all parents and teachers were perfect, it would not be possible to identify all future perpetrators.
So if arming teachers, increasing security, or trying to identify possible shooters won’t stop shootings, what will. What these lawmakers have failed to notice is the common denominator. Not all shooters are mentally ill, not all of them show signs of violence, and not all of them are able to bring weapons to school easily. But, all of these shooters have one thing in common:

guns.
The way to end gun violence is simpler than many are willing to believe. We need to find a way to limit access to guns. Despite conservatives’ hopes and dreams, gun violence is not going away. We cannot pretend that a document written hundreds of years ago is worth so many lives. I believe in the Constitution, and I want to believe that our founding fathers wanted what was best for our country. However, there is no way for me to believe that this is what they wanted. At the time when the promised “the right to bear arms” they could not have imagined the type of weapons we would have in the twenty first century. They could not have thought that this many years later, that amendment would cost countless children their lives.
It is time for us to stop being stubborn, because it is time for students to stop having to be afraid. Having beliefs and morals is what makes us who we are. It is impossible to live a life where we don’t fight for something, but this is not a fight worth having. Is it really worth holding onto something if that thing is costing others their lives?
Twenty times this year we have subjected our country's youth to tragedy. Twenty times this year we have allowed partisan lines and outdated beliefs to get in the way of protecting them. Twenty times this year we have been given the opportunity to say “enough is enough.” Twenty times we have failed. It has been twenty times too many. This has gone on for too long. It is not fair that students and teachers are paying the price for our mistakes. It is time to take a stance. It is time to take the right stance. It is time to end school gun violence.