Tragedy has struck at Oxford High School in Michigan. A school shooting transpired on Tuesday, November 30, 2021. Leaving three people dead, eight wounded from bullets, and over a thousand victimized. One of the eight died shortly after. The government confirmed this to be the deadliest school shooting since May 2018, and there was only one person who survived in the classroom and was left unscathed.

School shootings have been a significant problem in America and a threat to thousands of children across the nation. The government has always been trying to prevent school shootings. Most recently, they’ve been discussing how to fight the Coronavirus. The rise of the Omicron variant means most of the time is spent addressing that. However, school safety is a significant issue. The safety of children is at stake, and the only reason school shootings have not been happening as often is because of the national lockdown this past year. Now, this may sound like a good thing, but it is quite the opposite.

You see, the only reason school shootings died down is because over 90% of households with children switched to distance learning in 2020. School shootings could not occur if children were at home. However, the recent shooting brings the topic back up to the government. Over 20 school shootings have occurred since August 1st, and 29 occurred this year alone, more than 2018 and 2019 COMBINED. This confirms that Coronavirus is not the sole cause of child deaths in America.

The suspect was a 15-year-old male named Ethan Crumbley, accused of murder, assault, weapon, and even charges of terrorism. He fired over 30 bullets in his school based on the bullet marks found by police. “There is no playbook about how to prosecute a school shooting and candidly, I wish I’d never even had. It didn’t occur so I wouldn’t have to consider it, but when we sat down, I wanted to make sure all of the victims were represented in the charges that we filed against this individual,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald told CNN. Numerous school districts in Michigan have closed since Thursday, December 2nd, and the statistics show that school shootings are not the #1 reason for child deaths in America. Coronavirus has killed about 750 children in America, more than children killed in school, even across two years. However, it’s still less than children killed by guns overall. Gun violence has killed 1,401 children in America, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Many ideas have popped up on preventing school shootings, like adding metal detectors before students enter school. Yet I firmly believe this is something the government needs to address.

Works Cited

Reilly, Katie. “The Michigan School Shooting Shows That COVID-19 Isn’t the Only Thing 

            American Kids Need Protection From.” TIME, 2 Dec. 2021, 

            apple.news/A3GOg3UwkSjeJ8a0ntnzDIQ.