On the morning of September 4, 2024, teachers and students arrived at Apalachee high school, unaware that by the end of the day their school would be the scene of the latest mass shooting  in the United States. At approximately 9:45 a.m. a 14 year old student in possession of an assault rifle opened fire at his school in Georgia, ending the lives of two students, two teachers and wounding nine others. The first school shooting in the 2024-2025 school year and yet the 45th school shooting in the 2024 year. 

For many teachers in the United States, the threat of gun violence is constantly looming, with 1 in 4 teachers reporting a gun-violence related lockdown in the 2022-23 school year.  With 288 recorded incidents of school shootings since 2008, the United States has a disproportionate lead globally, with Mexico rated second with a total of 8 incidents in the same amount of time. Despite these steadily increasing numbers, little has been done in terms of gun reform and federally mandated education laws for school security. 

School safety measures vary across the nation from metal detectors, school protocols, armed officers, and most recently: panic buttons. In response to the community backlash following  the 2018 Parkland shooting in Florida that claimed eighteen lives, the state adopted “Alyssa’s Law”, named after one of the Parkland victims. This law, introduced in 2020 requires the installation of a silent panic alarm system in public schools. When activated, these systems contact local law enforcement with the intent of cutting down response time during an emergency. 

Georgia is among the six states that utilizes this type of school security system. In the case of Apalachee high school, one week prior to the incident a security system called  Centegix was installed. Teachers at the school were provided with ID badges that included a silent alarm and could be used to alert law enforcement.  According to Chris Hosey, Director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, “The protocols in this school and this system activated today prevented this from being a much larger tragedy than what we had.” Attempts at implementing “Alyssa’s Law” have been thwarted due to budget stipulations, however Cetegenix CEO has quoted that the cost of outfitting a school with the aforementioned security system would be around $8,000. With only one month into the school year gun violence on the rise, this begs the question: how many more lives will be lost before school safety is made a top priority in the United States? 

References

1. Yan, H., & Faheid, D. (2024, September 5). What we know about the Apalachee High shooting in Georgia – the deadliest school shooting this year. CNN; CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/05/us/winder-georgia-shooting-apalachee-high-school/index.html
2. Mascarenhas, L. (2024, April 20). Experts say panic buttons can enhance school safety, but only 6 states require them. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/20/us/panic-buttons-schools-us-states/index.html
3. ‌World Population Review. (2022). School Shootings by Country 2020. Worldpopulationreview.com; World Population Review. https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/school-shootings-by-country
4. ‌Hurst, K. (2024, April 11). About 1 in 4 U.S. teachers say their school went into a gun-related lockdown in the last school year. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/11/about-1-in-4-us-teachers-say-their-school-went-into-a-gun-related-lockdown-in-the-last-school-year/