STAFF EDITORIAL: School shootings expose America’s empty promises for change

They see the posts filling up our newsfeeds. Our government sees the broken hearts, unanswered questions and traumatized individuals scarred by an experience they once deemed unimaginable. They see the pleas for change, the cries for help and they still refuse to implement change. They fill our minds with superficial reassurance; the words “never again” have now become meaningless.

Hearing about the tragedy of Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, we find yet another school shooting, an experience all too common as another piece of our hearts crumbles away at the gut-wrenching news. Millions of Americans have been impacted by these shootings, and the United States government has yet to open their eyes to the devastation that only seems to exist within our country’s borders.

Twenty-seven. 27 schools that will never be the same, 27 communities that will be forever scarred by the disaster that struck when young students were just trying to learn. There have been 27 school shootings in the weary five months that have passed in 2022 — yet the efforts to prevent these from occurring have been poor.

Once each month, we take a few minutes out of our days to hide under desks and in corners
to practice for a school shooting. Those minutes of preparation for a life-threatening situation is
not nearly sufficient, considering the circumstances. Our federal government, whose main job is to protect the people that live within our nation, is miserably failing at this task. The overall lack of gun control within our country allows these tragedies to unfold, and millions of lives to be consistently put at risk.

It is truly devastating that the common worries students should feel, like a massive physics test or English research project, are masked by the ever-present fear of an earth-shattering violent event striking our school community. Time after time, the federal government promises change will be enacted, and time after time they go back on their word. More common sense legislation and policies on gun control must be passed. More politicians must do their jobs and protect young Americans. Voters must hold elected officials accountable for not taking action.