School Safety

According to the National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments, "school safety is  defined as schools and school-related activities where students are safe from violence, bullying and  harassment, and the influence of substance use." School safety is very important because education is  the future, and without safety in our schools, there can be no education. Students, parents, and teachers need safety. The National Center on Safe Supportive Learning Environments is a great resource for guidance and information on school safety. A safe and supportive learning environment involves  cybersecurity, emergency planning, mental health support, and threat assessment and reporting.  I feel very strongly about this topic because when I turn on the news and see that there has been  Five students in a classroom another school shooting, I feel sick to my stomach.  I recently have been researching the Uvalde school shooting. I was researching the Uvalde school shooting for an assignment for one of my classes and the article  was about the Uvalde students and the first day of school  at their new school. Students and parents in Uvalde are  having a very hard time and live in constant fear because of the tragic events that happened. It absolutely breaks my  heart to think that students feel scared to go to school.  Many schools in the Knoxville area where I grew up had  issues with school safety. There were bomb threats, cyberbullying, suicides, and substance abuse.  In conclusion, I do not have the answer, but immediate change in our schools is necessary. Over the summer, many of the Uvalde students signed up for virtual learning and some transferred schools. For the students returning to school, there have been extra security measures. However, in the discussion of school safety this is the ongoing debate: do we take extra security measures or does this scare the children? Many feel that we can ensure safety by having officers in schools at all times or by arming teachers and giving them the appropriate training. On the other hand, some feel that guns are the issue and the government should remove or restrict guns in the United States. Could taking guns away from good civilians stop the bad guys? Despite the debate, there needs to be a solution because  more innocent lives should not be taken.