By Jazmyn Coleman, Broadcast Manager

        When a school shooting happens thousands of miles away, the emotional impact does not stop at those school doors. Students who have never experienced school violence firsthand still feel the effects, whether it is through nonstop news coverage, social media or even lockdown drills.

   There have been over 420 school shootings nationwide, exposing many students to the reality of gun violence on school grounds.

    In recent years, school shootings have increased across the board. It has become a tragic reality in the United States, affecting much more than just the communities where they occur. 

   Beyond just physical danger, these events have lasting impact on students. For many, the constant mental battle of questioning whether their own school is safe.

     Freshman, Kyden Pixely expressed how students who are not directly involved in these events still are affected.

    “It affects the way we think of how safe we are at school,” Pixley said.  

      Jason LePard, school counselor at the high school believes one of the biggest things students can remember is to focus on what we can control.

   “Students can remind themselves of the safety measures at their school and the steps they can take to stay safe, which helps reduce feelings of helplessness,” LePard said.

   School resource officer Bethany Childers says the school has many safety protocols that are in place to insure the safety of the students.

   “There are rules about propping doors and before people come into the school, everyone has to identify themselves, and then having me, and I walk the hallways both during and in between class times and at lunch,” Childers said. 

     Amanda Murray, head principal, emphasizes that a positive school culture plays a major role in preventing violence, adding that her goal is to make the high school a place where students want to be.

      “Where they feel cared for and respected, and that’s all students, not just some students, and to me, if we care about our students and we care about them as people, that helps prevent violence as well,” Murray said.

         Reflecting on school culture, is how students cope with fear and uncertainty. Especially in our generation, we cope with humor. As Senior, Kamryn Martin explained that she sees different coping mechanisms being used when the topic of school shootings were brought up.

      “Students definitely make jokes regarding school shootings and things. I think it’s just something that kind of became normalized within our culture, so then people feel like it’s okay to joke about,” Martin said.

   For some students, such as sophomore Miranda Dujanovic, safety is not just knowing the doors are locked, or knowing about certain drills–it’s about knowing someone will listen when things feel wrong.

    “The teachers and principles do a great job at making me feel safe in and out of the classroom, and I know if I am in an uncomfortable position to go and talk to them about it,” Dujanovic said.

     Murray emphasized the importance of the student body speaking up when they notice concerns, and she encourages them “when they see something, say something.”

    Murray stated as both a parent and an administrator, sending her own children to school each day means placing immense trust in the administration. She hopes parents show the same gratitude towards her.

    “I hope parents trust us here, too, to make sure that we keep their kids safe, and then I know this administrative team takes school safety very seriously,” Murray said.

      There are safety procedures in place that help train students into learning the safety measures in case an emergency happens at the school.

       Since school shootings are a national issue, their emotional impact extends beyond what we know.

       “I think anytime a school shooting happens within our country under the same laws and jurisdictions it can make any student feel uneasy,” Martin said.

     Murray explained how whenever a situation happens in the district regarding school violence, she and the administrative team sit down and talk about how they would handle it in case it happens at the school.

      “It’s definitely not a topic that we shy away from or that we’re afraid to talk about as an administrative team in this building or in this district because we know the more we prepare or kind of face the issue, the better off it would be if anything ever happened here,” Murray said.

      Martin emphasized the ongoing debate over responsibility in conversations about school shootings: “It’s constantly said school shootings are the result of the people and not the guns, and that we as people should change and get better when it comes to school shootings and gun safety across the country.”

      For school administrators, the threat of school shootings has become an unavoidable part of their role. Murray faces the problem instead of avoiding it; she has extreme trust in her team and herself.

     “It’s our job to make sure we take care of [our students] and [parents’] kids go home to them every day,” Murray said.