Inkwell interviewed Upper School students today on how school shootings, similar to the Santa Clarita shooting at Saugus High School, could be prevented in the future.

Yesterday morning, a 16-year-old student in Santa Clarita opened fire in the quad of Saugus High School which left two students dead and three wounded, before he attempted to kill himself. When reaching out to Annie Wright students, many turned down the opportunity to comment for political reasons. 

Inkwell: “What do you think could be done to stop this sort of violence from happening in high schools in the future?”

Gun Control

“I mean there are several different ways to go about it. Probably not be an ideal solution, but maybe stricter rules, and checks.” – Gabe McBee, 9th grader.

“Gun control. I really think we’ve done almost nothing. The one attempt that our current president had done to ban bump stocks never went through. I think that while mental health is important, it doesn’t have an effect on whether someone who wants a gun is going to get a gun. I don’t think anyone needs an automatic weapon. The sole purpose of guns is to kill, and I don’t think there is any other use for them. I understand in certain cases there are valid reasons for self-defense or some people choose to hunt. While that doesn’t align with my values, I’m not going to question somebody for that. As a whole, people don’t need [automatic] weapons.” – Ela Escobar, 11th grader.

“I think we definitely need more regulations on guns because that’s why this violence is happening; they’re far too easily available. There needs to be more thorough background checks.” – Ava Filiss, 11th grader.

“Raising the age where people can legally buy guns, increasing background check and making it so that people can’t get military grade weapons. Increasing security around it, opposed to letting just anyone have access to them.” – Ellie Crist, 12th grader.

“I think we have to change gun laws to reflect the current problems we have in this nation. Other countries have already changed their gun laws and they’ve already seen improvements. We politicize issues too much and make it an issue of right wing people versus left wing people and not enough of an issue of how to protect teenagers.” – Amanda Madanes, 12th grader.

“I think there should be stricter regulations regarding who can purchase a gun and background checks.” – Lillian Prime, 12th grader.

“Stricter gun laws would be a step in the right direction as well as banning the civilian use of assault weapons.” – Audrey Leonard, 12th grader.

“Gun violence in the US is such a difficult situation— it’s just so hard to find a meaningful solution to it. It is going to take some level of bipartisanship from both sides of congress.” – Emmanuel Grib, 11th grader.

Education/awareness
“There are many ways that what happened in Santa Clarita can happen here so I feel we should take classes…so we know what to do instead of panicking.” – Moneé DuBose, 10th grader.

“It’s really hard because even if you put regulations to prevent people from bringing in guns, its uncontrollable. I think the best we can do is to raise awareness.” – Joanne Wang, 12th grader.

“In order to prevent events like this, I think that better support systems in schools, being able to grow up in a supportive environment where students have the ability to go to someone in a times need, and giving more attention to mental health in the school system is extremely important. Also, there should be stronger consequences for bullying. I don’t think that arming students or faculty is the way to go for prevention. Also, making sure that we as a generation teach our children to be much more respectful to each other and try to be more inclusive of others around them, especially since as a generation we have been so exposed to so many events like this” – Sophie Jeter, 12th grader.

“I feel like people are like – they care less about it because it’s happening so much and they say they’re going to do something about it, but not much ever happens. The last walkout was a long time ago and I think maybe there needs to be another one, like something like really big to like spread awareness again, because I feel like people have forgotten about it a lot.” – Courtney Stark, 10th grader.

Security

“I think there should be some form of armed security nearby the school, i.e. some police presence— not directly inside the school, as that would have a negative emotional and mental effects on the students, but I think there should be some law enforcement assigned to a school, to watch over it and directly respond to any threat that may occur.” – Logan Hancock, 10th grader.

“Maybe just have a code on opening doors like our school and maybe have security guards and a head of security to protect the students.” – Jack Pham, 9th grader.

“I don’t think putting ‘no gun zone’ signs on the front of schools is a good idea because it basically tells people that do have guns that they don’t have any type of protection. There could be lots of things to be done, but honestly maybe one sort of protection is having police on campus on schools or having somebody who is responsible, who is armed and responsible there at all times. And people can see that.” – Sam Salamone, 10th grader.

“I think the guards, or the safety person in a school should have – maybe they could have some guns. Also just like to raise public awareness about gun violence and also not to reveal the identity of the shooter so people are not going to gain that fame.” – Raven Chen, 12th grader.

“I think schools should definitely be an environment that students and teachers feel safe. Honestly, I think – I’m not a big fan of equipping each teacher with a gun, but I feel like that would be a safer way to protect the students if the shooter comes into the school.” – Jennifer Wang, 12th grader.

Mental Health

“Education and mental health awareness, because a lot of these things are things that have been built up over time. You can notice when people are unstable and maybe acting in ways that could lead to them committing some sort of atrocity like a school shooting. And I think our society as a whole needs to be better at catching those before they grow.” – Emil Haedt, 11th grader.

“Mental health. You have to take into account mental health in terms of gun control.” – Bailey Black, 12th grader.