In the wake of yet another school shooting incident occurring this past Valentine’s Day, students across the nation are walking out of their classes, and staging protests against gun violence, advocating for state governments and the federal government to take action in protecting American students. One solution many government officials are proposing is to arm teachers with firearms — a solution rejected by a vast amount of students, teachers, and faculty members of schools all across the U.S. This raises the question: what is it that students want to see done? As a student, I have my own opinion on the matter, and so do many people around our very own campus, as do the students in every school in the nation. With that in mind, it is unwise to assume that all students across the nation share the same view on the issue, as well as the same view on what should be done about it. So, I am not here to represent the students of America, rather, I am here to talk about the collective opinion that many of us on this campus feel regarding this unfortunately common issue.
We do not want to fear losing our lives while trying to get an education. A school — practically a second home to all students considering we spend eight hours a day there — should not be a place for any student to feel unsafe. Students across the nation carry this burden of fear daily while attending school, and schools themselves have to prepare to prevent gun violence incidents on their campuses — that cannot be accepted. In the past couple of weeks, Holmes and Business Career students felt this fear almost routinely because of threats of gun violence happening on campus, and because of the lockdown we went into during fifth period just days after the shooting in Parkland, Florida. The feelings we felt during these incidents were awful, particularly during the lockdown; horror, uncertainty, helplessness, and of course, fear. No student, five-years-old or eighteen, should have to experience those feelings, especially not in a place that is supposed to make us feel safe. Yet, almost yearly since 1999, students have had these feelings pushed to the extreme, ultimately to the point of either death or witnessing death: Columbine, 1999, thirteen people were killed; Red Lake, 2005, seven people were killed; West Nickel Mines, 2006, five people were killed; Virginia Tech, 2007, thirty-two people were killed; Northern Illinois, 2008, five people were killed; Oikos, 2012, seven people were killed; Sandy Hook, 2012, twenty-six people were killed; Santa Monica, 2013, five people were killed; Marysville Pilchuck, 2014, four people were killed; Umpqua, 2015, nine people were killed; and Marjory Stoneman Douglas, 2018, fifteen people were killed. That is 130 people — students, teachers, and faculty — killed on a school campus by the hand of a gun. That is beyond outrageous. Yet our government seems to turn its back on these tragedies, leaving students like us to live in fear — that is not what a government made by the people, for the people should be doing.
So what is it that the students at Holmes/Business Careers want to see those in our state and federal government do? We want them, first, to acknowledge their many failures in even attempting to prevent these tragedies from happening. Second, we want a strong background check for those purchasing any kind of firearm to be implemented in every state, and a strong national background check implemented as well. Third, we want a lengthy waiting period, in every state, for thorough background checks to be done before consumers can acquire firearms. Fourth, we want safety trainings to be given to soon-to-be gun owners before they acquire their guns. Fifth, we want each person who owns or possesses a firearm to have licenses that are only given out on the basis of a legitimate, and verifiable, reason for the consumer owning a firearm. Although many of us would also like to see more radical measures taken as well, the common consensus is that the gun market must be heavily regulated so that a machine designed to kill will not land in the hands of murderer. And if government officials won’t lead the way on this issue, then the students of Holmes and Business Careers High School will.
We, like many students of this nation we call home, must be the leading force in solving this issue; in ending mass shootings in schools; in ending mass shootings in these United States; in ending the fear so many of us are forced to experience because people who are meant to represent our stances on issues won’t act upon them. And how will this be done? Through the students of Holmes and Business Careers High School banding together and demanding for those who serve us in Austin, and in Washington D.C., to go to the fullest extent in preventing anything like the tragedies the Class of 2018 and beyond has had to grow up with, from ever happening again. And no matter what it takes, we, like the rest of the students across this great nation, will not stand for another lockdown at our school; we will not stand for fear running our lives at school; we will not stand for the lack of a strong background check in every state; we will not stand for government officials ignoring our pain; we will not stand to see another tragedy where kids are killed for learning. But what students at our school, and at schools all across the nation, will stand for is for things to change, no matter the consequence. Because no consequence compares to death.
Join this effort by following any of these accounts:
Twitter: @HHSNatWalkOut
Instagram: @HHSNationalWalkOut
Snapchat: @HHSNWO
Remind: @HHSNWO
Signed,
Ric Galvan
Editor’s Note: The Gavel is run by the journalism department at Holmes/Business Careers High School as a laboratory project for students in advanced newspaper class. Its purpose is to provide leadership in news and editorial content, and to create a forum for student and staff opinion. Letters to the editor are encouraged, and may be submitted via e-mail to matthew.singleton@nisd.net, or presented in person in F101. The staff reserves the right to edit all letters for length and/or appropriate language or libelous content. All letters must be signed.