A solemn call for Better Safety Protocols with rising School Shooting 

The nation was plunged into heartbreak, pain, and anger after the school shooting that claimed 21 lives, 19 children and 2 teachers, in Uvalde, Texas. The school shooting has led to calls for better security protocols at schools in New York City. Mayor Eric Adams held a press conference on Wednesday, May 25th, a day after the Uvalde school shooting to outline his school safety intentions. The mayor was joined at the press event by NYPD Commissioner Keechant Sewell and Schools Chancellor David Banks. 

“Yesterday, I’m sure you held your children a little harder,” the mayor said. He went on to speak on how the city was facing gun problems that affected nearly every location from the subway to schools. According to the mayor, 20 guns had been confiscated at schools this year. Recently, a backpack was found with two guns and 18 bullets in it. The day after that incident, a 13-year-old Brooklyn middle school student was overheard by a school staff member speaking about how he had a gun. Police officers found the child in possession of a semi-automatic firearm. 

“Thanks to the work of the school safety team and educators, they were able to prevent a tragedy this time — this time,” Adams said about the incident. “Public safety can’t be about luck and overhearing conversations. It must be about clear directions about stopping this violence.” 

Factors influencing these increased Shootings…

Adams called on parents to sit down with their children and talk to them about guns. While he encouraged parents to communicate with their children, he also suggested they look through their rooms and bags. “Looking in the rooms of your children, if you see AK-47s, something is wrong,” Adams said at the briefing. “If you see boxes of bullets, something is wrong.” 

There has been an increase in the number of weapons that school children take to school. According to reports, these children are taking weapons to school in order to protect themselves from their fellow students who participate in gang and street violence. There have also been cases of innocent school children falling victim to stray gunfire while walking the streets of the city. “The good kids are bringing weapons to school to protect themselves from the gang members. The gang members are bringing the weapons to school because there’s no penalty,” said Gregory Floyd, President of Teamsters Local 237. 

Mayor Adams has put his best foot forward by showing that he wants to see a drop in the crime rate. Some feel he has not done enough and many have called for more action from the mayor.  

Safety Measures aginst School Shootings…

“All we care about is our children being safe,” said Mona Davids of the NYC School Safety Coalition. “We would ask Mayor Adams to – one, hire more School Safety Agents, two, bring that new technology into every school building, and three, also ask Mayor Adams to really take the reins… get stuff done and put more police on the streets in our communities.” Adams has received criticism for finding time to meet celebrities and drill rappers but has not made an effort to meet with the parents of school kids. 

School Safety Agents play a role in providing safety and security at schools. Their numbers have been reduced from what they once were. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City schools had about 5,000 School Safety Agents, a figure that has dropped to around 3,600. “The mayor is committed to ensuring that we have the requisite number of School Safety Agents that we need. We have a lot of people who say, ‘We don’t need more School Safety Agents.’ [Do] you know the people who say that? Those are the people that don’t work in schools. The people who work in schools every single day recognize that they want to be safe. School Safety Agents play a vital part. They don’t play the entire role, but they play a vital part,” said Chancellor Banks