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How do we solve school shootings?

Mar. 23, 2018
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Broward County, where a former student killed seventeen people last month, has announced a new policy to ensure safety at the school: clear backpacks. 

The school announced in a letter on Wednesday that students will now only be allowed to carry clear plastic backpacks on campus, and students and staff will be required to wear identification at all school activities. Backpacks are being distributed to all students for free by the county. 

Many students are disappointed with the new rules. Tyra Hemans, a senior at the school, told CNN that she felt the backpack provision did little to compensate for what she felt was the larger issue: loose gun laws. 

“We know what the root of the problem is. [Lawmakers] don’t want to make the gun laws strong enough.”

Hemans went on to say that the backpacks are an invasion of students’ privacy, and that any plans to add metal detectors to the school would make it feel like a prison. 

This comes on the heels of difficulties the school had on Wednesday, when 20% of the student population decided not to attend class due to various security issues the school has had since the Valentine’s Day shooting. Two students were charged with bringing weapons to campus, another made threats on social media, and a security guard was caught sleeping on the job. 

Other students claimed they were taking the day off to prepare for the March for Our Lives, a nationally supported walk in Washington D.C. on March 24th. Organized by a group of Stoneman Douglas students, the march seeks “to demand that their lives and safety become a priority and that we end gun violence and mass shootings in our schools today,” according to their website.