To combat violence, schools have implemented absurd policies irrelevant to the issue of students’ safety.

Crocs, black clothing, hoodies and phones are now prohibited in schools across the U.S. One district in Alabama even chose to remove mirrors from girls bathrooms in middle schools.

School boards have stated the new regulations are enforced to prevent bullying, violence and distractions. However, these problems are inferior to the main concern for students, mass shootings.

Students are paranoid. Parents are fearfully obligated by the desire for their children to succeed in an environment where their lives are endangered.

Children’s education now includes monthly drills to prepare for active threats, where their realistic fears are practiced for safety training.

These drills can be initiated at any time of day without warning. Students are herded into classrooms and told to sit in a corner as a teacher locks them in and turns off the lights. Administrators then walk through the building to ensure the procedure was followed appropriately.

Although it does not matter how much training students and teachers experience, none of it prepares them for the reality of a mass shooting.

Teachers are burdened with the responsibility of a security guard, having to look out for the signs of potential danger while providing students with a safe environment conducive for learning. But as counseling services are cut from schools, teachers are left without resources for students who need help.

Mental health funding is not tied to students’ safety i. As boards of education increase their need for safety precautions, the spending for mental health resources and on campus counseling decreases.

School is where children grow and become young adults. This development can be difficult and isolating at times. Students admit that school can become a dreadful place where depression and anxiety thrive. Without resources on campus for the ones in need of counseling, many are left to cope with their issues alone.

The absence of care for students causes a breeding ground for troubled teens.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office reported almost half of all school shootings are acted out by a student from the school. Survivors of these massacres report the student displayed behavioral concerns and mental illnesses. Some confessed the student admitted prior to the shooting they had a plan intact.

An estimated 4.6 million children live in a home where at least one gun is kept loaded and unlocked, according to the Journal of Urban Health.

Trusting a child with a weapon nearby is criminal negligence.

Gifting a distressed child a loaded gun is involuntary manslaughter.

In April, Michigan parents James and Jennifer Crumbley were sentenced to 14 years in prison for the murders committed by their child. Recorded attempts by teachers to inform the parents of the concerns for their child’s mental health were ignored.

After a year of failed attempts to get Ethan Crumbley help, his parents carelessly gifted him a 9mm pistol. Three days after Ethan was taught how to shoot and reload his new toy, he murdered four of his classmates.

Ethan Crumbley’s parents avoided the noticeable signs of his instability and facilitated the deaths of four children. Their case set precedent to the evaded issue of gun violence in the U.S.

The massacre in Georgia on Sept. 4 was the 45th school shooting this year.

Colt Gray showed signs and had been investigated a year prior by the FBI due to aggressive behavior online. His father, Colin Gray, was questioned by police in regard to the investigation.

Colin acknowledged Colt was being bullied by classmates and having difficulties managing the divorce he and his wife were in. But he refused to take ownership in the responsibility of caring for his son and failed to remove the ease of access to loaded automatic rifles.

Colin was made aware of his sons’ potential threat to the safety of other children when he gifted Colt the automatic rifle used in the school shooting. Colt’s crimes were premeditated and enabled by his father.
Both Colin and Colt sit in prison with felony charges for the massacre which could have been avoided if necessary precautions had been taken by the father.

Children die daily due to the lack of gun safety and regulations must be enacted to save their lives. Countless shootings are carried out by individuals with documented mental instabilities, either by the negligence of others or ease of acquiring the weapon.
New policies in schools banning clothing, phones and mirrors do nothing to prevent the murder of children. Metal detectors, ID cards and routine checks do not solve the mental health crisis.

Students need to be cared for, listened to and protected from gun violence. Removing mirrors from bathrooms does not prevent school shootings but common-sense gun reform will.