Frank Talk Needed on Shootings

In Santa Clarita, there was a school shooting incident on Nov. 14 around 7:38 a.m. A student named Nathaniel Berhow shot himself at Saugus High School along with several schoolmates.

He was one of the quiet students. He was in advanced placement classes and he was on varsity track and field. Thus, many fellow students were surprised when they heard that Nathaniel Berhow was the shooter.

Many Saugus High School students were shocked and they moaned for the three poor souls who have died from this school shooting, including Nathaniel Berhow himself.

It seems as if people nowadays seem to be numb about many issues like school shootings because many of us have been desensitized by the frequent news from the media. The fact that this can happen to anyone in any school is what is traumatizing. People may think that it would be very unlikely for it to happen to them but it can happen around any of them. Gun control issues are very controversial politically but it is important to educate people and be aware of its danger.

Mother Jones’ statistical data proves how many people own a gun. In total, about 51% of suicides involve gun deaths.

The danger of owning a gun as a minor is that it is more difficult for minors to acknowledge that it is a weapon that can actually take away people’s lives due to the lack of development of rational parts of their brain. Another legal issue is that it is illegal for a minor to own a gun. The gun type that Nathaniel Berhow used is called a ghost gun that can be manufactured without any serial number and can be acquired from the black market.

Thus, to prevent any future school shooting problems, every parent and teacher should be aware of securing weapons in school and at home. Also, I believe that school should be a place where students feel safe and not a place where students should worry about getting killed and constantly having fear of getting shot. To make a safe environment, the school has to do their jobs and teach children the real danger of school shootings and educate them about the possible consequences. Even though it is a controversial topic, the topic should be brought up in school to be secure. .Nicole Cho Valencia