By Vincent Khan
School shootings are a distinctly American phenomenon. Eighty to 90 percent of all the school shootings in the world happen in the U.S. In 2021, Michigan saw an all-time high in school shootings with 26.
Michigan has recorded 66 school shootings since 1970. Nearly 40% of these incidents occurred in 2022, when school shootings were in the middle of a twenty-year peak.
In 2020, there were 21 school shootings recorded; in 2021, that number climbed to 26.
One in 7 Michigan high school students has carried a weapon to school before. And 1 in 14 Michigan high school students was threatened or injured with a weapon on school property. –
In the first half of 2022 alone, there have been 12 reports of gunfire on school grounds. The most prolific of these recent shootings came in Nov 2021 when Ethan Crumbley, 16, was accused of opening fire at Oxford High School on Nov. 30 with a semi-automatic handgun that his father purchased for him as a Christmas gift days before the massacre.
This case appears to be the first in the United States in which the parents of a teenage school shooter have been charged with crimes attributed to their child.
Crumbly recently pleaded guilty to murder and terrorism charges in a mass shooting last year at a high school in the Detroit outskirts that killed four of his classmates and left more than half a dozen wounded.
“Ethan Crumbley’s guilty plea is one small step forward on a long path towards obtaining full justice for our clients. We will continue to fight until the truth is revealed about what went wrong leading up to this tragedy,” Ven Johnson, a lawyer representing several victims’ families, said in a statement.
Bay City Central High School maintains its reputation as being one of the most diverse high schools in the Tri-City area. With the school being so diverse, it raises eyebrows towards the higher chance of students having controversy or bullying each other, which are some of the leading causes of school shootings.
School administrator Zach Schalk has been working at Central for six years and strongly feels about how students feel about the topic. When asked how the kids act when there’s a lockdown drill, he described their demeanor as “numb.”
“Kids are used to the topic nowadays. Especially with social media, where they’re so accessible to the topic, it helps make the topic less hard to hear or deal with for them. They are well aware of the severity of the topic, and we try to set up an environment in the school where no kid feels like they have to go to those measures.”
What activities do you think help bring a positive light to the school?
“We have our Link Crew program, and one of their main activities is taking the special education students to events such as bowling. Groups like that have really helped mold a positive setting throughout the whole school.” Schalk also went on to say that the “counseling department for the school is fit to deal with any problem a student may have outside of school and that they are loved and cared for by the school.
There is currently one police officer always on duty at Central High every day. It is the same police officer year round, so the students have a familiar face to look towards. When asked if they think the school should add another police officer or metal detectors, both answers were replied with “no.” Schalk said that metal detectors might instill more fear in the students.
Schalk explained a new preventive tool in the school in case of an event.
All classrooms have this new tool called a “boot.” It acts as a wedge against the door just in case someone tries to force their way through the classroom door.
An anonymous student of Central High from the class of 2021 reached out to comment on the topic:
“We did 2-3 drills a year.” They also said that “any time we had a lockdown drill, teachers would handle the drill with seriousness. As students, we took the drills seriously because we are so constantly reminded on the news how many school shootings there are in America.”
Although violence within schools doesn’t happen often, anything can and will occur. Anyone can stop the violence by looking for warning signs.
According to michigan.gov, here are signs students may show when they have intent to harm themselves or others:
- Suddenly withdrawing from people and activities
- Consistent bullying or intimidating others, or being bullied by others
- Extreme mood or personality changes
- Victim of constant social rejection
- Talking about plans or actively making plans to harm themselves or others
- Bringing a weapon to school – or threatening or talking about doing so
- Bragging about or warning others about an upcoming act of violence
- Recruiting others to join in a planned act of violence
- Warning students to stay away from school or events
- Expressing fascination with guns and/or school shootings
- Expressing hopelessness about the future
- Extreme, prolonged sadness or distress
- Expressing or showing feelings of isolation
- Bragging about access to guns or knives
