Freedom comes at price: How long will America continue to pay with the lives of its school children?

Words Faith Wilcox

Safeguarding definition: Protecting the health, well-being, and human rights of individuals, which allow people especially children, young people and vulnerable adults to live free from abuse, harm, and neglect.

The Texas school shooting in Uvalde, West of San Antonia resulted in at least 19 students and 2 teachers pronounced dead. The shooter was identified as 18-year-old Salvador Ramos a student at the elementary school. 

Unfortunately, this does not come as a shock and is the 212th school shooting in America. The last school shooting the UK experienced was ‘The Dunblane massacre 1996.’

School shooters in America often have some relationship to the school or students, for example Salvador Ramos was a student at Uvalde. However, 71% of school shooters are victims of bullying and 87% of them left behind evidence that they were experiencing bullying in one form or another. It is a duty of care for the school to ensure the well-being and safety of their students. Being aware of this fact, schools in America may not doing enough to address issues such as bullying or mental health to safeguard their students.

Following, the ‘The Dunblane massacre,’ Parliament gathered to ask the key question ‘How can we prevent this from happening again?’  and ‘What circumstances surrounded and lead to the school shooting of March 1996.’ The Cullen report suggested school drills to prepare in the case of another shooting. The focus of the report was the safety of the public and how this could be ensured by focusing efforts on the sale and availability of guns, rather than on the fitness of a potential buyer.

America particularly southern states such as Texas are still very pro-sale of guns, and we must question why are school children allowed to purchase guns? Regardless of legal age, America is failing to safeguard their children by failing to do risk assessments and having stricter purchasing law.

The earliest school shooting in America was in 1764. It is clear that it’s a fight America has been battling for years, but does the ‘land of the free’ mean safe?  Freedom comes at a cost and America have paid the price again with the lives of its children.