In regard to the appalling event that took place last week at Santa Fe (Texas) High School, the wise words of my brilliant history teacher, Mr. Larry Stillman echo in my head: “History doesn’t repeat itself, but it sure rings a bell.”

Can we honestly tell ourselves that we are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of our schools? Mind you, our schools are transforming the youth of America into the people who will be running our country. There is no evading the fact that shootings, not just at schools, are tragically becoming more common. Thoughts and prayers are not enough, nor can they ever fully relieve the indescribable grieving that families and friends of shooting victims, whose worlds have been flipped upside-down, will experience.

Just a few months ago here at Bradford High, we had a scare shortly after the devastating shooting in Parkland, Florida. Thankfully, it was nothing more. However, the scare shows that anything can happen at any given time and place. Just because we are a small community does not guarantee that we cannot be struck down. As my martial arts instructor, Michael Miller, would say, acceptance is vital — we need to accept the fact that anything can happen to us at any given time.

With that, we need to start by rebuilding the infrastructure of school security. Personally, I strongly believe that equipping schools with more resource officers is a great step in the right direction. However, the resource officers should undergo periodic training to keep their skills sharp and ready to be used if needed. Keeping in mind that security is the main issue, recruiting more resource officers would also create more jobs.

For as much as I wish gun laws were as effective as they are intended to be on paper, the reality is that imposing more gun laws will only burden more law-abiding gun owners. Taking away guns from people without cause is unconstitutional. A trained resource officer with a gun has a much better chance of stopping an active shooter than being unarmed or an untrained teacher with a gun or baseball bat (as some schools have equipped their teachers with).

Meanwhile, many of those who commit these horrible acts are victims of bullying. Not only can the blame be placed upon some students, but occasionally teachers can also share the blame for thoughtlessly making certain students feel unwelcome and oppressed.

For example, very recently, a certain teacher with whom I had never had any contact before (whose name I will keep private) was a substitute for one of my classes. Without any sort of provocation, this teacher decided to poke fun of my name, to the amusement of my classmates, who just sat there and laughed at it. While I did not really let this bother me, I could not help but think to myself, “Things like this can push people over the edge.”

Let this be an example of the things that some students deal with in school. The solution to stopping calamitous acts of violence rests in the hands of all in one, big community. In order to put a stop to violence in schools, we must secure our schools with appropriate enforcements while also cracking down on the types of bullying that push people to commit these hideous acts.
Thoughts and prayers are not enough. In order to preserve the quality of education for current and future generations, these are two essential steps that, if taken, will lead us in the right direction — in the direction to safer schools.

(Caleb Huntoon is a part-time photographer and newsroom assistant at The Bradford Era. He will soon graduate from Bradford Area High School.)