By Simran Kalkat, Courier Editor-in-Chief
On February 14, 2018, the nation was shocked when a 19 year old gunman committed a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida murdering 17 students, injuring 17 others.
With just 42 days into 2018, Parkland marked the 8th school shooting. This number was shocking to many across the country, including many staff and students in the James Logan community.
“It’s heartbreaking that there are so many school shootings” said Mr. Brar, principal of James Logan High. “When I was your age […] schools and places of worship–churches, temples–were the two places that were sacred […]. And now, what we see most when there are mass shootings is it’s schools, places of worship, and recently concerts,”
Mass shootings are not a new problem in United States. On April 20, 1999, 13 individuals were killed at a mass school shooting in Columbine High School. 19 years later, America’s gun problem has become so pervasive that Columbine no longer makes the list of 10 deadliest mass shootings in the United States.
When Columbine happened in 1999, many were sure that there would be some change to follow so that such an incident would never occur. In 2012, when 28 elementary school children were murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School’s mass shooting, that seemed like the final tipping point. But in the 19 years since Columbine, not much has changed in terms of our gun laws.
“We’re in the same place,” said Mr. Brar. “And that’s the part that’s really troubling,”
There has been some level of change proposed by both sides of the aisle. In the aftermath of Parkland, President Trump and other Republican lawmakers have called for school teachers to be trained and ready to use a weapon, should an incident like this occur at their own schools.
For most teachers, handling a firearm for the first time would be extremely difficult–physically and mentally.
“I think that’s a terrible idea. We’re educators,” said Mr. Brar. Most educators have not had any previous experience with a firearm. This move has faced nationwide criticism, sparking debates on what place a gun has in the classroom, if any.
Mental health has been an increasingly important part of the conversation surrounding mass shootings and gun rights. For Mr. Brar, it is more important to give schools better resources to deal with mental health issues than to arm teachers with firearms.
“For us to intervene early, I think is where we need to invest rather than thinking there’s bad people out there, and they’re going to have access to guns,” said Mr. Brar.
The current conversation surrounding gun control in America is fixated on the idea that all law-abiding civilians must be armed in order to stop a “bad guy” with a gun. If someone who is mentally ill wants to use a gun, then there must be a responsible citizen trained and ready to counteract.
“[Instead] let’s make it difficult for somebody who is mentally ill to get a weapon,” said Mr. Brar. “Let’s make sure we provide support and services for somebody who is mentally ill, before they get to that point.”
Logan has provided many on-campus resources for students seeking help. Students can fill out referrals available on the school website for a friend or classmate they may be concerned about. These referrals aren’t necessarily to get other students in trouble, but to notify an adult about another student’s difficult circumstances. If a Logan student needs any additional help, then there are social workers, mental health therapists and other service providers that can work with students in groups or individually.
“In New Haven […], we believe that it is part of our responsibility to care for the whole student,” said Mr. Brar. “Not just the academic, the co-curricular, or the athletic part of it, but the whole child.”