Fourteen students and three staff members died when Nikolas Cruz, 19, entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida Wednesday, Feb. 14. Since then, the nation has engaged in a gun control and mental health debate similar to the ones sparked by many recent mass shootings.
This time, however, the teenaged shooting victims have been outspoken about gun control and their stories of the shooting. Some spoke at a rally not far from where the shooting took place. Others appeared on Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show. Still more attended a televised town hall meeting featuring Florida Senator Marco Rubio.
Meanwhile in Pennsylvania, citizens and educators have debated gun control and attempted to process both the shooting and its aftermath.
As an educator and a parent, education department chair Dr. Rachel Finley-Bowman knows her children participate in active shooter drills at school and recognizes the nationwide issue of school violence.
“I had the same reactions [to the Parkland shooting] as everyone: ‘Here we go again,’ but also ‘enough is enough,’” she said.
Pennsylvania students have also had to deal with recent violence threats of their own. According to the York Daily Record, students in the Central York School District did not have school Wednesday, Feb. 21 through Friday, Feb. 23 due to shooting threats.
A combination of verbal and social media threats and warnings circulated around Central York High School Tuesday, Feb. 20, and students were given the option to go home early.
The threats later shifted focus to the middle and elementary schools. The administration cancelled school for the entire district each of the following three days after the source and legitimacy of the threats remained unknown.
Sophomore Dylan Warner attended Central York High School and said Friday that he was scared for his and all school districts that face shooting threats.
“I worry that students will see that these threats can get them off school and will call them in frequently, devaluing the importance of a threat like this,” Warner said.
According to the York Daily Record, Central York students returned to school Monday, Feb. 26 after the threats were traced to a middle school student.
However, they were not allowed to bring backpacks, and other safety measures were in place.
At Elizabethtown College, the education department employs a variety of strategies to prepare students to teach in a world where their schools may not always be safe.
According to Bowman, school violence is one reason students’ field placement and student-teaching hours are meticulously tracked.
The department brings in different speakers and holds workshops every semester on topics related to keeping schools safe.
Students are also encouraged to complete ALICE active shooter training, which Campus Security teaches every semester.
Senior education major Joyce Conrad completed ALICE training this past fall and said it really helped prepare her for her teaching career.
“It’s a scary idea, to think that [school shootings] could happen anywhere at anytime,” she said in an email. “I think prevention and speaking up when you’re uneasy about something is a good way to prevent school shootings.”
Bowman said Etown’s education students are aware of the possibility of an event like the ones in Florida and York occurring at their own schools.
She and other professors encourage students to get involved in their future school communities, stay informed and keep their eyes open for vulnerable students.
“There are so many different paths these people could take, but they end up on the ones that lead them to decide to threaten or shoot up a school. What are we missing?” Bowman said.
According to Bowman, Etown’s education professors encourage their students to be agents of change in the classroom and remind them that they are responsible for molding the next generation. As teachers, education students have a chance to model behaviors they would like to see in their own students.
“Even asking the student can be helpful,” Conrad said.
In terms of fixing the national issue of school shootings, Warner said he hopes the nation can find a solution that drastically reduces shootings in the first place.
Conrad said thorough background checks (like those teachers go through) are a good idea. The students from Parkland, Florida, continue to speak out about gun control. Still, the topic remains a politicized one, and Bowman said she hopes for a solution that politicians can agree on.
“We can have better gun control and better mental health resources, but it has to be a community effort,” Bowman said. “It takes a village, but right now the village is breaking down.”
