When you walk into school every morning, you should be thinking about the upcoming math test, projects, or whether or not you actually did the homework that was due today. Not if you will be able to make it home alive that day. Yet, for many students across the country, that is a harsh reality that they have to deal with. School shootings, once a rare and unthinkable occurrence. Today, a constant headline on the news affects students, teachers, and schools all across the country.
No student should ever have to go through an event like this, especially in a classroom. Schools and classrooms should feel safe, where students can learn, dream, and grow into their full potential. But instead, way too often, they are turned into crime scenes. The conversations that follow each incident, such as gun laws, mental health, and school security, are major topics of discussion that have taken place, but still, too little has been done to protect students from the violence that students nationally fear.
It is hard to believe that school shootings have not been stopped. School shootings are not an issue impossible to solve. Countries across the globe have faced similar issues and have acted swiftly to prevent them from happening again. The United States, on the other hand, has been facing this issue for more than twenty years.
In 2012, at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. A gunman killed 26 people, 20 of those being students. In 2022, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. A gunman killed 19 students, just two days before the school year ended. And just last week, on August 28th, 2025, in Minneapolis. Two students were killed, along with 18 others injured. These are just three events; since 1999, there have been more than 390 school shootings, and over 360,000 students have experienced gun violence at school.
The United States seems to be stuck in an endless cycle of tragedy, outrage, and inaction. We need more than just thoughts and prayers. We need solutions. We need real conversations about gun ownership, mental health resources in schools, and safety in classrooms that don’t make you feel like you’re a prisoner. We shouldn’t have to learn about lockdown drills. We should never be sitting in class, wondering where to hide and how to get out in case of an intruder. And we should absolutely never be reading about students dying in schools while sitting in the same kind of desks.
The truth is that our government has failed students when it comes to school shootings. Our politicians sit in front of the camera, offer sympathy, and completely avoid the issue. They play the blame game and don’t take action. This is because the U.S. was built on gun culture. The right to own a gun is right there in our Constitution. It is hard to believe that politicians care so much more about their right to own a gun than about students dying in such violent tragedies in schools. A government’s first responsibility should be protecting its citizens, especially children. Until leaders take action against these violent and tragic events, students will continue paying the price.
