A modern dilemma: School safety

School should be a haven for learning, where academic growth meets social development, but the looming threat of violence has depraved that environment for my peers and me. For generations prior, education was simply that: an education. But when Generation Z looks back on our years of middle and high school, for many, classroom memories are intertwined with the horrors of school shootings.

Columbine High School, Sandy Hook Elementary School, Umpqua Community College and, more recently, Oxford High School, are just a few among many schools that experienced extreme violence on campus. Since the late 20th century, school shootings have increased significantly each year. There was a notable peak in 2018 with nearly 250 incidents, according to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security. And although most were nonactive, the fear among students only intensified.

It took a global pandemic to curb shootings — temporarily. With students learning remotely and campuses shut down, many forgot about school shootings. But the recent return to in-person learning has shown that the problem still persists.

Back in person, it is difficult to feel safe when there is so much gray area around who and what is supposed to keep us safe. Having a trained professional as a resource to schools, who works to prevent disorder or take down active shooters, cuts the lag time between tragedy and aid. But in sitting down with my school’s Student Resource Officer for an interview, I learned that three major school districts within the Bay Area — San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose — opted to remove their SROs. Several others are discussing it. This is because some SRO programs have been linked to unjust arrests in which students of color receive disproportionate scrutiny and more extreme disciplinary measures.

With this growing awareness surrounding the risks of keeping an SRO stationed on campus and subsequent actions to address the issue comes a debate on what constitutes safety measures in the modern era of pandemic mania and access to firearms. My generation will forever be scarred by the damage of school shootings. Given the volume of the tragedies in the past decade, it is likely that many will have lived through one or, at the least, know someone who did.

This web of traumatic experience comes closer to defining our generation with every threat and every shot. I can only hope this ends with Generation Z, but so much of it feels out of our control.

Following each shooting comes a period of mourning, and the government action seemingly just as brief. It is up to a partnership between student voices and the government to break the inevitable gridlock in the legislative branch. It is a long road ahead for gun control so, in the meantime, there are other measures to take. We can try to support our peers through programs like Anonymous Alerts and work to further destigmatize the discussion of seeking help for mental health, which is linked to many school shooting perpetrators. Looking at the big picture, it is easy to feel hopeless, but looking at the courses of action that are smaller in scale, there is opportunity for at least some change.

Lexi Goldstein is a senior at Burlingame High School. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.