To thousands of children in the United States, school is one of the safest places for them to go.

However, during these past years, students have become more and more afraid of school shootings happening in their school.

In 2018, over 60 accounts of gun violence have occured on school campuses.

Since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012, there have been at least 239 school shootings, resulting in 300 injuries and 138 deaths.

Since the government refuses to change laws for the safety of children, schools must take precautions into their own hands.

Solutions that have been created and have failed are the Assault Weapons Ban of 2013 and the Manchin-Toomey Amendment, which would have required universal background checks for firearm sales.

United States Secretary of Education Betsy Devos has created the Federal School Safety Commission in attempt to protect schools; however, the commission has steered clear of the topic of gun control, which is one of the main factors in school shootings.

Because our government is not taking action to protect our schools, the schools are preparing in any way they can.

Around 20 Illinois schools announced they will be adding “active shooter” alarms into their school on Monday, Sept. 17.

When pulled, alerts will immediately be sent to the company that makes the alarms as well as  local police.

School personnel can also set off these alarms with special access to said alarms.
Certain schools have reportedly spent $90,000 on these alarms, to try to protect students.

At this point in American history, any type of help may go the distance in saving lives.

Luckily, today almost every kid has a cellphone, which they would be able to contact law enforcement on in case of a school shooting.

As tech-crazy as this generation is, not all kids have the privilege of having a cellphone, especially elementary school children.

On top of that, not all teachers bring their cellphones into work with them.

So, if a teacher and their students were trapped in a room with no phone, the alarms would come in handy for signaling the police.

If students with phones are hiding, the quiet whispers of a person calling the police could be deadly.

A silent pull of an alarm could not only call the police, but keep the location of the victims hidden.

Not only that, but students attempting to run can quickly pull on one of the alarms, possibly saving dozens of their classmates’ and teachers’ lives.

Fortunately, no schools have used these active shooter alarms yet, and hopefully, no schools will have to use them in the future.

All schools and children can do now is hope that the government will finally open up their eyes and realize they need to step in.