After 58 lives were mercilessly and unfairly taken within just ten minutes, the Las Vegas attack that took place on October 1st is now considered to be the deadliest mass shooting to occur in modern U.S. history.

Unfortunately, the world has seen a heart-breaking amount of violence and crimes in the past few years- including but not limited to the Pulse Nightclub shooting and the recent Manchester  bombings. Through these baseless and inhumane attacks, society has come to an absolutely terrifying realization- violence will continue and communities have to initiate change or at the very least, be prepared in the event that something formidable happens.

This has opened discussion to not only gun control regulations but also policies to implement for the protection of students in educational institutions. In the year 2017 alone, there have been more than a dozen school-related shootings, with more and more innocent lives being taken.

Although most would like to believe that these alarming statistics do not apply to their communities, it is crucial for schools to enforce student safety and actively practice lockdowns.

Turlock itself has seen a drastic increase in violent crimes; most stemming from verbal disputes and random muggings.

However, on September 15 of this year, Cunningham Elementary officials had to call the Turlock Police Department after  a child under the age of 12 was found to be in possession of a semi-automatic, loaded firearm. The young girl did not intentionally place the loaded weapon in her backpack nor did she have motives to hurt anyone; an adult in her family had forgot to take it out of her bag following a camping trip.

Thankfully, correct measures were taken and students were placed under lockdown until the police had arrived to resolve the issue. No students were harmed and the adult who had placed the gun in the student’s bag was taken to the police department for questioning.

This goes to prove, however, that in today’s day and age, weapons are easily accessible and it would be beneficial to practice safety regulations.