Parkland, Sandy Hook, Ulvade. Immediately you think of school shootings, just by hearing those names. Schools that probably wouldn’t be known otherwise. 

Guns are the leading cause of death to teens in America. 1 in 10 gun deaths happen to someone 19 or younger. Since the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary tragedy, 948 school shootings have taken place. That means that for every high school student, school shootings have been rampant since we were around 4-8 years old. 

For the members of the Mentor Editorial Staff, practicing lockdown drills have been a part of our lives since kindergarten. For seniors that means that we’ve been going through these drills for 13 years. To many of us preparing for a school shooting is just another part of every school year. 

After so many years of going through the motions of these drills, many students have become desensitized to the importance of running the drills. The editorial staff feels that with so many school shootings happening, for so many years, it isn’t shocking to us anymore. The fear that we should feel when thinking about school shootings is dwindling. Lockdowns aren’t taken as seriously any more; people laugh and mess around during drills. We aren’t experiencing the emotions, adrenaline and pure fear that would be felt in real situations. It is hard to truly know what could happen in school shootings, as they are random. 

At the same time many parts of all the school shootings are similar. We can’t force anyone to listen, or make every student take every drill seriously, but many of us feel that more action needs to be taken. Mostly with gun control, but also with how lockdowns and other drills are being taught. 

While no one wants to have these hard and scary conversations with kids from ages 5 to 18, if changes elsewhere aren’t being made, we need to focus on what we can prevent and make sure every student has the opportunity to live.