School shootings have become an epidemic in America and are endangering the lives of students around the country. In May of 2022, the Uvalde shootings reignited the debate on gun violence. A total of 21 lives were lost within Robb Elementary, and have become the new faces of the movement for change.

At the beginning of September, Uvalde suffered yet another shooting in Memorial Park. While there were no deaths reported from the shooting, it did mean that one of the survivors of Robb Elementary had to experience yet another life and death scenario.

CNN reported the story of third grader Aubriella Ibarra who was at school the day 19 of her classmates lost their lives. She was also at Memorial Park on September 8th with her mother. The two of them, luckily, were unharmed.

The fact that a child had to experience two shootings in a span of four months is nothing short of insanity. Students this young shouldn’t be growing up with PTSD because we, as adults, fail to protect them.

America has proven that it doesn’t care about the safety of its citizens, as shown by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who stated that “It could’ve been worse..” according to Business Insider. Twenty-one people died, 19 of whom were children who had only lived a single decade.

People may be thinking, how does this affect me? Unfortunately, schools across America have been in danger of shooting threats, including our own Skyline College, back in 2009. In fact, school shootings are such an epidemic that as this very piece was in the process of being published, we received news of a school shooting in Oakland.

As adults, we may be outside the affected age range, but it’s our loved ones who will continue to suffer.

The situation doesn’t have to be hopeless; we have made steps in the right direction. The steps just haven’t been enough to stop it. Metal detectors and security guards won’t be the solution. We need to stop it at the source, not as kids cower in fear.

However, we don’t have all the answers. We can only do what we believe works and keep moving forward. Whether that be better regulation of firearms or refusal to sell to those with mental health issues, There is a solution.

Twenty-three years of school shootings in the United States, and not much has changed since Columbine all the way to Uvalde with bodies in the wake of bullets. We must keep fighting for the victims because if we can incite change, maybe they didn’t die for nothing.