Gun Violence: The Unyielding Epidemic in America's Schools - Research Paper

Introduction

Gun violence has become a contemporary issue of human rights. In the last 20 years students, parents and teachers have been living with the reality of shootings in the schools. However, the epidemic of America's gun violence that is in the form of homicide, mass shooting, firearm suicide, assaults, and unintentional discharge has affected American's schools. School shootings are defined as an attack that happens in educational institutions like primary and secondary schools or universities in which firearms are used. An incident is stated as mass shootings when four or more people are confirmed dead. The cases of shootings in the schools had caused these schools to be closed and renovated to reduce the traumatic memories. Some families may relocate from the area in which these shootings were taking place. The issue of shootings in the schools had led to a debate on gun violence, gun rights as well as gun control. This paper discusses the relevance of the topic on the current gun violence and mass shootings in the schools and why this topic was chosen.

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After the mass shooting that took place at Sandy Hook school in the year 2012, all towns in the United States began investigating each town case of gunfire that had happened on the school grounds (Kleck, Gary 1455). From the year 2013 to 2018, all towns were able to identify 405 incidents of gunfire happening at the school. Out of these cases, 260 cases were said to have occurred on either the elementary, middle classes or at a secondary school ground in which 109 deaths and 218 injuries were discovered. The analysis has shown that these mass shootings such as the incident at Sandy Hook, and the recent Santa Fe and Parkland were not commonplace. However, they were representing less than one percent of the total gun violence incidences in the schools. The above incidents accounted for a disproportionate share in the overall injuries and deaths from gun violence that took place at the schools. Unknown trauma is imposed by the mass shooting on generations of students. Political leaders have not taken any necessary step to help and address the issue of the mass shooting and also block access to firearms.

The mass shooting that happened at Marjory Douglas high school in the year 2018 and other such incidents that followed in places such as Texas, Maryland, and Wisconsin led to the debate that the government should raise the age of buying guns (Swanson, Jeffrey 1069). Some major gun retailers such as Walmart and Dick's have been taking upon themselves without legislative warning to stop selling of guns to people who are under the age of twenty-one years. The mass shooting that took place at Columbine High School in the year 1999 made the nation to respond by ensuring zero-tolerance policies in all schools that ushered in a reality of criminalizing of young people behavior especially that of teen of color. The theory of broken windows was used on black and brown students by the police, and in this case, students were then either suspended, expelled, incarcerated or arrested for minor indiscipline believing that this approach could have prevented the mass shootings. During this period, counselors were replaced by the police, and metal detectors replaced door openers. Empathy, second chances, and common sense were all silenced due to school administrator fear of experiencing violence.

The United States has realized that the approach of zero tolerance to schools violence was a failure. The study shows that this approach did not curb the incidents of school shootings and students were neither feeling safer. Following the recent cases of mass shootings, the nation was able to focus its attention on youths and find the best ways that could have prevented them from gun violence (Redding, Richard, and Sarah 272). Raising the age of acquiring firearms could have brought similar consequences just as to that of zero tolerance policy in Columbine. The disproportionate and disparities in minority contract in any other criminal justice system aspect would also happen in the firearms context. By creating criminal penalties due to the possession of a gun by the young people did not solve the problem and that's why many young people possess guns. Some young people carry firearms out of fear and protect them.

In some cases, young people may opt to take guns when they are threatened by gang members whenever they walk to school. The criminal justice system has been unable to solve this problem since it has been focusing on retribution and punishment instead of addressing the root cause of incidents of gun violence. We see the inadequacy of the criminal justice system when it responds to public health issues of the epidemic or in the current opioid crisis in which reliance on the system of criminal justice has resulted to no better outcome.

The Parkland tragedy did not move away from the national attention because unfortunately, other school shootings followed in rapid succession. Raise the age of purchasing guns could not have solved the incidents of school shootings just as zero tolerance policy. People were to acquire firearms no matter how they were restricted to access unless the root causes of gun violence were solved. The criminal justice system should look at other solutions to reform the situation instead of locking up youths of color which would not have been prevented school shootings (Price, James, and Jagdish 67). The analysis has demonstrated that the majority of gun violence incidents in high school, elementary, and middle class covers 56 percent of the overall incidents database. These incidents are the mass shootings, homicides and assaults. The analysis shows that every town identified just three cases of mass shootings in which a killer was killing four people or more. The mass shooting is not common in schools, and it comprises one percent of gun violence incident at school. However, they comprise more than 28 percent of the total deaths that happen at schools and 14 percent of those who are injured. In the last six years, 131 cases of assault and homicide while using firearms were reported to have taken place on the grounds of high school, middle class and elementary. The incidents lead to 248 victims where there were 74 deaths, and 174 people have gunshot injuries. In this case, the analysis has shown that about 130 of the victims were identified to be students.

The research indicates that 20 percent of incidents of gunfire that took place on the grounds of high school, middle class and elementary were unintentional (Warnick, Bryan, Kim, and Robinson 384). These include those that had resulted in deaths or injuries and incidents where nobody was shot. Out of 47 incidents, one death was reported, and 32 gunshot injuries were observed. In this unintentional incident, only 22 students were noted to be victims. Twelve percent of school shootings incidents were as a result of suicide deaths and attempts in which the shooter is said to have no intention anyone. The research shows that out of 28 incidents, 24 people were confirmed dead and 4 had non-fatal injuries. The study shows that out of 28 cases, at least 22 of them were students.

In America, children are much exposed to gun violence in which mass shooting in school is viewed as a tip of the iceberg. In every year, more than 2,900 children and teenagers are reported to have shot and killed, and more than 15,600 are reported to have been shot and injured. It is estimated that about three million children in America are exposed to firearm shootings every year. Children are likely to be affected psychologically in case they witness shootings when they are in their schools, homes, and communities. Children who are exposed to violence and crime are likely to suffer from depression, drug abuse, anxiety, alcohol, posttraumatic disorder and sometime they may fail exams at school or engage themselves in criminal activities.

Mass shootings in the school's grounds are likely to account a very minimal percentage of victims although these may capture public attention than any other kind of shootings. The lawn outside the United States of America Capitol has 7,000 pairs of shoes that memorize the people about seven thousand children who were killed under the gun violence during Sandy Hook shootings that happened in the school. This shoe display was organized by the global advocacy group Avaaz on March 13, 2018, Washington DC. Gun violence led to the killing of about 1,200 young kinds in the US after the school massacre that took place in Florida, Parkland a year ago. The death of these school children was able to draw the attention of the nations since these killing were becoming so mundane and normal in the United States of America. Some weeks later after school shootings in Parkland, a seventeen-year-old student in Birmingham was shot while in the classroom.

The rate of gun-related homicide has dramatically reduced after its peak in the 1980s. In the United States, gun violence is described as the second common factor that is leading to deaths among children according to the recent study. Very rarely do these fatalities on campuses schools. In 2017, a study was done and shown that 85 percent of children at the age of 12 years was shot to death while they were still at their home. This research stated that about four out of ten kids who are at the age of 13 to 17 were shot to death while they were at their home. Four in ten were killed while they were at the streets, and two in three died as a result of suicide, and the remaining third of the killings are as a result of homicide. This analysis indicates that public mass shootings cover less than one percent of gun violence fatalities.

If these incidents are taken collectively, the study had shown that young kids who are victims of firearm violence are likely to experience these incidents under greater and smaller scope in frequency more than mass public shooting (Metzl, Jonathan and Kenneth 242) The study had also indicated that the low level of income also characterizes cities and towns where this kind of violence is common. The recent study review had profiled every child who got shot and died in Parkland showing that most of the kids who were victims were the youths of the color. The research shows that most of these incidents were happening those who were neighbors to the communities where community firearm violence is common. Black Americans comprise two-thirds of gun homicide victims to people who are between the ages of fifteen to twenty-nine years. Black Americans are likely to be affected 18 times more than whites when it comes to this type of murder incidents. People of the color are more likely to be affected by these mundane shootings.

Mass shootings in the schools like in the case of Parkland are an abnormality in the landscape of gun violence in the United States of America. These kinds of incidents are stated to be in the center of high profile activist. The students in Parkland were unable to galvanize national conversation on the issue of gun control. It has been reported that these teens' political and eloquence savvy that capture the attention of the public was partly a testament to curriculum that was being offered in the public school (Metzl, Jonathan and Kenneth 243). The teens of Parkland included students of the color in their movement, and they were also able to acknowledge a steady drip of gun violence that was being endured by peers who were also less privileged. The white student's violence criminalizes black Americans in the United States. This racial imbalance leads to gun violence that everyone hears and talks about them.

The topic of gun violence and mass shootings in the schools is current and relevant to us since the incidents of gun violence is being experienced in our society and schools up to...