Teen Violence 3
Despite nationwide gun-free school laws that prohibit possession of a firearm on or near the property of a public or private school, students are bringing guns to school and using them against their fellow students and teachers with increasing frequency. What possesses these students to gun down their classmates? How are these students getting access to firearms? Who is ultimately responsible for these tragedies? What stresses contribute to these shootings? And how are parents and educators missing the warning signs that these children have reached the breaking point? Over the past few years, there have been an astronomical number of school shootings across the country, sending policy makers, parents, teachers, and other concerned citizens into a tailspin. These events are becoming more frequent and have shattered the sense of safety that children should have when they are in school. Shootings by students, some as young as 10, have occurred at sickeningly regular intervals in urban towns like Pearl, Mississippi, Jonesboro, Arkansas, Fayetteville, Tennessee and most recently Littleton, Colorado, where 12 students and 1 teacher lost their lives at the hand of two teen shooters who took their own lives.
Little or no supervision and support from parents or a caring adult. National School Safety Center. Checklist of Characteristics of Youth. Beard, Michael. Coalition to Stop Gun Violence. Following the horrific shooting in Littleton, President of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, Michael Beard, remarked, "As a country, we must do a better job of protecting young people. We must turn of the flow of guns into our communities. This is an adult problem that deserves an adult response. It is our responsibility." If we, as adults, do not step forward and take action to prevent even one more senseless act of violence, the youth of today will never have a tomorrow. The greatest tragedy of gun violence is the tremendous numbers of children and youth killed or injured each year by firearms. These numbers continue to increase at alarming rates. According to Gunfree.Org, in 1985, the number of firearm homicides for youth 19 years and younger was 1,339, in 1995, it was 2, 574. In 1995, guns accounted for 84% of homicides of persons 13 to 19 years of age. Averages of 14 youth each day are killed by gunshots. History of tantrums and uncontrollable angry outbursts.
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Approximate Word count = 1198
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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