Special Report from WUFT News
School shooting survivors say more guns are not the answer. There are better solutions.
As far back as the shooting at Columbine 20 years ago, school shootings have become an issue of intense national discussion.
Somehow, there still isn’t a solution. While many argue that the root of the problem lies in the document that this country is founded on and the constitutional rights of Americans, activists say there could be more to it.
Columbine survivor Craig Scott thinks the solution is multifaceted. He doesn’t think policies or legislation are true answers to this problem.
“I’m for safer gun control and all of that. But that’s not ultimately the answer, the heart, the problem lies within the hearts and minds of people in our, in our culture today, that’s also where the solutions lie,” Scott said.
After losing his sister and some of his friends in the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, Scott became an activist, speaking to people about his experience in an attempt to solve this issue.
Former Columbine High School principal Frank DeAngelis did the same. DeAngelis was the principal of Columbine in 1999 when the massacre occurred and remained in the position until retiring in 2014. He said that in his years as principal, he witnessed the increasing needs of students.
“Schools need support and they do need counselors and they need social workers and mental health workers,” DeAngelis said. “And when the school districts say, we need to cut, that’s the last place we want to cut, because I can tell you towards the end of my career, these students now are coming in with much more needs.”
Many argue it is an issue of mental health. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School teacher Dara Hass agrees with DeAngelis that mental health is something that needs to be addressed. She believes that doing so could help solve this problem.
“I think that mental health needs to be something that we need to look at a little bit better and to invest a little bit in to make our society a better place and a more understanding place,” Hass said.
The pastor of a church in the outskirts of Denver, Danielle Reeves said she’s frustrated the cause of the Columbine shooting is still not fully known.
“I would want to go way, way back here and figure out what are, what are we missing? What are we not talking about? What are, what are we forgetting to talk about? Um, and, and what is happening that this is continuing and it’s spiraling and it’s becoming the norm?” Reeves said.
In the end DeAngelis had just one question, and it wasn’t for the lawmakers, religious leaders or teachers. It was for the children who have dealt with this their whole lives, and will continue to deal with this until the shootings stop.
“We got to do something better, and you’re the future,” he said. “You guys are the future generation. What are you going to do?”
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