Every day we send our beloved children to school to get an education, but are they really getting an education? Our students have been put in danger with the epidemic of school shootings. All over the United States, student’s lives are being challenged and even taken due to shootings. 

Between 1966 and 2012, there were 90 mass shooting in the United States alone, one-third of the global attacks. 2016 had the worst mass shooting in United States history. These school shootings have become such an issue that the CDC has claimed more than 90% of schools have a written plan for response to these shootings, and 70% of those schools have participated in shooting drills to prepare students and staff for a real occurrence. Shootings are one of the deadliest school emergencies and are increasing in occurrences, and are most often caused by mentally ill people, even ones we see every day. Although the violence rates had gone down, they have almost tripled from 2012 to 2014. School shootings are still a major issue of today. Every day our students are being put in danger and still, we are doing nothing in return. How is that fair to them? 

            Metal detectors, single entrances, clear backpacks, and eliminating hoodies are all good, but they’re not getting to the root of the problem. There are always a few students who will find a way around the contraptions and the rules. Anyways, these rules are in place to minimize the number of shootings, not to eliminate them completely. Yes, we have to stop the shooting, but also stop the shooter from creating or following through with their plan. In order to do that, we have to find the problem and figure out a solution. Experts say that the problem falls in mentally ill people. People who need help. People who need a friend. People who need to be heard. How do we help these people, these students, these peers, these friends? 

            One way to help these people is mental health care professionals. However, getting in to see a therapist can be expensive and very time-consuming. Filmmaker Erahm Christopher agrees to say the most important thing we can do to prevent school shootings is listening which is something that can be fixed. Providing students with an on-campus mental advisor would make a world of a difference in our schools, our community and in the lives of our dear children.

            It is said that teachers and mental-health professionals do not understand the role of the therapist in children’s lives. JAY-Z is in agreement that schools need a therapist for the children. Also, studies state that children’s minds, especially elementary-aged children, are still developing; therefore, things they learn from that age will go with them forever, affecting them for better or worse. We should put the therapist in elementary schools in order to help those children who are going on to become these mentally ill students who commit school shootings. If we can help these students from a young age, we can decrease the number of mass shootings not only in school but everywhere and give our children the help they need to be responsible, independent young adults. 

            Mental health professionals in schools are convenient because they are easily accessible, they offer a safe, inclusive space for students, and they decrease mental health issues. Placing therapist in schools makes it easier for the students of all economic classes to get the help they need. Not all families can afford for their children to see a professional health care provider, so having them in the schools allows all students to have access. As well as availability, school therapist provides a place for students to go where they’re not judged for their life circumstances or the situation at hand, in fact, they are encouraged to talk about it. These mental health advisors would be placed to help students and listen to them. If we can get students into the hands of mental health care professional, it would decrease the amount, as well as the severity, of mental illnesses, especially in the students causing school shootings. 

Many parents would disagree if I said they don’t really have the time to sit and talk to their children, but the fact is that if parents really sat and talked to their children like they say they do, there would be fewer shootings. It is hard for parents, especially single parents with multiple jobs and more than 1 kid, to really sit and talk to each child. Parent-child communication is extremely important; therefore, the lack of it is causing some damage to our children. A mental advisor would help this lack of parent-child communication because even though the therapist isn’t a parent, they are still an adult who can sit down with the child and listen to them, listen to whatever the student has to say. Since parents are not talking to their children as often as they should, or even at all, they cannot see the mental issues brewing inside of them, the depression, the anxiety, whatever is going on with their kids at the time. This is actually hurting our kids instead of helping them. 

            Now the question is not would a therapist help, but would the children allow them to. All children should be encouraged to talk to a mental health care professional, even if they don’t appear to have any mental issues. Chances are, the student needs someone, without judgment, to talk to, someone they trust. This would be a great person for them to talk to. If students are encouraged to go talk to an advisor, it is more likely that they will. When a child knows they will make their parents proud, they are willing to do whatever it takes. If we can show children that it is good for them to talk to a school therapist, they will. 

Children with mental illnesses and even children without them will benefit from therapist coming into the schools. If nothing else, giving the children this opportunity to talk to someone who will listen, care, and help them is something we should all want for our kids. I want my kids to grow up knowing they have someone they can talk to, even if they can’t come to me. Many other parents want the same for their kids. As an elementary student who was bullied, I always wanted someone to talk to who would listen but not react like my mother and make a large ordeal of the situation. I wanted someone to hear me out, someone who didn’t know the other girls. I needed someone on my side. Giving students an on-campus therapist puts someone on their side. This sense of alliance tremendously helps young children cope with whatever is a mountain in their life at the time, whatever is consuming them. 

From a students point of view, I think an on-campus advisor would help all students with anything they can’t face alone. Putting someone to help us in our school would be incredibly beneficial because there are peers around us that we see hurting or struggling, but we can’t help them, or maybe we don’t even see it. They need professional help. In school, the therapist would help them greatly because another student could turn them into mental health professional and they can get the help they need just by talking to a professional. The number of shootings would decrease if these kids had someone to talk to. A lot of things would drop such as depression and anxieties. It’s worth a shot to put help in our school. If nothing else it will help students feel safer because there is at least someone whose main job is to help those students who are facing trouble, extreme or not. 

By giving students an “out” with and mental advisor, we can prevent school shootings all over the country. These students need someone to hear them out and help them as much as possible. These students need someone to notice them and what they are doing. These students need a friend, and that is what a therapist could do for them.