This is what it would be like attending middle school in 1981. You get out of your car or bus, and walk inside. You glance to your right to see two boys brawling it out in the hallway outside the gym throwing fists. This is a normal event of your day and you just keep walking (Interview).  Now let's imagine a middle school in 2021. You get out of your car or bus, and walk inside to see everyone standing there, not saying a word but on their phones which are on a social media page. You glance to your right to see two boys brawling it out in the hallway but before the first punch is thrown,  one of the school’s police officers steps in as the other, who is greeting kids at the door, joins him.   Why do you think police officers are everywhere? Maybe it's to keep kids out of trouble, or they're just there to watch the students. But there's a bigger reason for why they are patrolling school grounds. That reason is guns and weapon rules.

In 2021, there were 34 school shootings. According to an article, “Include the full title” school shootings in 2021: How many and where( “school”). In 1981 there were most likely less than many. that, like 3 to 4 school shootings. This data shows that the policies for gun control got worse, right? Well not entirely. When it was 1981, they didn't have police officers patrolling the schools (Interview). But in 2021 you have police officers in almost every school to make sure kids stay out of trouble and to make sure there aren't any shootings. The only times police would come to schools in 1981 is when shootings happened which were rare.  Another reason for why gun and weapon policies got more serious is because of social media. In 1981 there was no social media so there wouldn't be anybody trying to plot a big shooting because there was no social media.  However, But in 2021 there is social media, we have phones so people can have private chats. Furthermore, to go along with the chatting online people on social media such as tiktok and twitter are saying to stay safe when you go to school because there's supposedly  going to be a "school shooting” tomorrow which is based on my observations. A final reason for why there may be more school shootings now is motivation. On the site, The Reasons|DontNameThem.org says that back then people weren't motivated to go shoot up schools. But now some people get motivated because they may get fame out of it or may get recognized now because before they didn't ( “Reasons”). Closing sentence needed here. 

But let's say a school shooting does occur in 1981. Well in 1981 only a select few of schools actually did practice lock downs because they mainly practiced fire drills(Interview). They probably didn't need to practice lock downs because school shootings were so rare (Interview). This is very dangerous if a school shooting did happen. Their game plan was probably to barricade the doors and hide inside the classroom if you couldn't get out. But in 2021 schools are mandatory to practice at least one security drill per month. This means that schools have to practice a lock down at least once a month according to School Security Drill Law N.J.S. (“School”). For when they practice for a lock down the first thing the teacher should do is the School Security Drill Law N.J.S. says to do is to make the students go to a safe spot inside the classroom, where they cant be seen. Then the teacher should  lock the door, shut off the lights, and close the shades. The final thing she should do is  go to the safe spot where the students are. Make sure the teacher and students can't be seen from the door ( “School”).

The amount of school shootings since Since 1981 has been increasing, and it most likely will stay like that. Since the media has been covering and giving the shooters fame from their fatal actions that they put upon the poor families that lost a loved one. If the media stopped covering these topics we may see a decline in school shootings. At the same time, schools will be improving their security  to try and protect the students as much as they can.