In the wake of Anderson Cooper’s “town meeting” with President Obama over gun control and gun violence, Reading must consider its application to our town and schools.
Recently throughout the United States, buzzwords have been guns and gun control. The amount of gun violence in the country is climbing. According to the Brady Campaign, a national campaign to prevent gun violence, every day in America, 89 people die from guns, whether it be in the form of murder, suicide, assaults, unintentional shooting, or police intervention. This amounts to about 30,000 American lives lost to guns each year.
These staggering statistics, along with all of the stories flashing across screens regarding gun violence in all of its forms, from racially motivated police violence, to homicides in public areas, and the deaths of so many teens involved in gangs, have put the country on edge. President Obama’s administration and numerous (typically liberal or democrat) citizens have tried to make the issue of gun violence, of which they are very passionate, a priority. Because Obama could not get legislation passed through Congress, he is using Executive Order to tighten loopholes over who can purchase a gun with more substantial background checks, and who can sell that gun by ensuring they are a licensed dealer. A CNN poll shows that 67% of Americans support Obama’s action.
However, those in support of Obama are met with opposition by others, typically conservative Republicans. Many of these politicians are supported by the National Rifle Association (NRA), who feel that there is no need for this law. They believe that criminals will get their guns through illegal means anyhow, and it only makes it harder on law abiding citizens to get guns.
Media attention has been primarily focused on mass shootings, of which there were 330 in 2015, according to CNN.
However, not all gun violence is at the hands of criminals. According to the Brady Campaign, close to 40% of 297 people shot every day in America are either suicide or accidental shooting. This affects children and teens, in fact 48 children or teens are shot each day.
Living in the safe, sheltered community of Reading, for the most part unexposed to the consequences of gun violence in the forms of murder and assault, this issue is not top of mind.
At RMHS specifically, there are many safety precautions taken in our daily school security measures, as described by Officer Muollo, “We have video cameras, we have door locks, and monitors. We have a good communication system between myself and the school administrators, especially on the doors. There is a buzz-in system, so it can be compromised if a door is propped open. But, after school hours begin, everybody has to be scanned in at the front door, and the secretaries monitor it all day long. After hours, there’s surveillance within the building through security cameras, and outside the building. The police department routinely makes sweeps through the grounds to make sure there’s nothing out of order.”
However, there is documented depression and anxiety amongst teens in our community, which has the possibility to lead to gun violence in the form of suicide. In fact, according to a recent Boston Globe article “In Mass. schools, a focus on well-being,” by James Vaznis, 55 students at Reading Memorial High School have been hospitalized for depression, anxiety, or suicidal tendencies last school year alone.
In the national debate, everyone agrees that mental health needs to be addressed to stem gun violence. As it is said, “guns don’t shoot people, people shoot people.”
The Reading Public Schools System has done a remarkable job in stepping up to the plate to provide support, coping mechanisms, and healthy habits for all students, whether they struggle with depression or not. The Boston Globe recently shed a spotlight on Reading Public Schools, defining Reading as a “state leader” in its relatively recent initiatives to focus on “social-emotional learning.” The idea is to effectively involve the entire community, right down to the student’s crossing guard, in identifying kids who are at risk before problems arise. In addition, Reading strives to …”treat every child as if they need a safe and supportive environment,” according to the district’s leader of social-emotional learning, Sara Burd.
At the high school specifically, an effort is made by all administrators and staff to know every single student on some personal level. These interpersonal relationships are imperative for student health, as a laugh after a hard day can change an outlook for the better.
According to RMHS principal, Adam Bakr, focus on social-emotional learning is, “... a five year plan that has been in the works.”
The issue of stress and anxiety in teens appears to stretch far beyond strictly RMHS, as the number in students experiencing mental health issues is rising in other schools as well, as explained by Mr. Bakr, “I meet with the Middlesex League principals once a month, and every single school is facing the same increase in mental health issues.”
It seems that the amount of anxiety in teens is on the rise for a variety of reasons, including increased stress about college, high achievement, schoolwork, and extracurriculars. Unfortunately, there is no one cause that can be pinpointed and eliminated, “We’re always trying to brainstorm with our police department, and with our social workers, what the reason is, and there’s no one reason,” described Bakr.
Many steps are being taken at RMHS to implement this program and employ the ideals behind it, as RMHS continues to modernize and increase its support systems, “We’ve added a social worker here at the high school, this is her second year. We’ve also added a transition program… That transition room is for the increase of kids being hospitalized… It is a four week program usually, to help get them back in the swing of things,” said Bakr.
As the school system continues to make strides in making every student feel safe and loved, we, as fellow students, should take that same initiative. We should continue to develop different relationships with different people, whether that means truly becoming friends, or simply sharing a smile. A little goes a long way, and as a student body, we must take action.
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