CSUN On Point

If you feel as though there has been a school shooting every week in 2019, then you are not exaggerating. In 46 weeks, there have been 45 school shootings, according to CNN. With more than 180 school shootings in the last ten years, student safety has become one of the first priorities in American education today.

One approach is to say that students should be prepared for these incidents with seminars or drills, but there is a concern that that experience can be traumatizing for students of all ages.

“We don’t want to go too overboard, ” Safe Kids Inc. vice-president Scott Coleman said. “[We don’t want to take measures] that make schools feel like a jail.” Coleman said having a healthy school culture is as important as physical security.  Safe Kids Inc. is a group of law enforcement officers and educators committed to preventing violence while empowering students and educators. Safe Kids Inc. employs former police officers, like Coleman, to try to bring safety and learning together in harmony.

“That’s what I left law enforcement to focus on: equipping students with age-appropriate resources to deal with violence,” Coleman said. “We want students to understand that violence is statistically unlikely to find a student at school. School is still a really safe place to be.”

Another aspect of the school shooting crisis is providing better mental health care to students. Discussions of mental health always begin after every school shooting, with many wondering if something could have been done to prevent it, and others asking how to help those affected by them.

“Do we know every student’s name, face, and story?” Dr. Loretta Whitson, Executive Director of the California Association of School Counselors, asked. “Do we have enough support staff, like school counselors, to help teachers identify students with prevailing issues? I would say we don’t have that, and that is extremely important.”

The recommended ratio for students to counselors is 250:1, which might still seem to be a large number of students for one counselor to keep track of. In California, there aren’t nearly enough counselors to begin to help the students who need them.

“It’s identifying [problems] early, and building relationships,” Whitson said. “Our ratio [in California] is nearly three times the average, with 622 students for each counselor, so it’s very difficult to develop a relationship.”

The demand for school counselors is at an all-time high. Every Town for Gun Safety reports more than 100 gunfire incidents near schools in the United States this year, including incidents where no one was harmed. These incidents have resulted in 26 deaths.

“We don’t want to tell students to fight,” Coleman said. Safe Kids Inc. came up with a system to help students before and after a shooting occurs: H.E.R.O. (Hide, Escape, Run, Overcome). “We would rather tell them to overcome, both physically and mentally, in the aftermath, as they’re dealing with trauma.”

Some states have started using school shooting drills to help students be ready in the case of a shooting. Both Whitson and Coleman agreed that these drills can be extremely beneficial. The key element is to make sure that the drills are performed appropriately to avoid traumatizing students.

The trauma caused by school shootings lasts longer when it goes unnoticed or unspoken. Now more than ever, students nationwide require the resources to empower themselves. Students also need the resources to feel heard in the chaos of growing up. While prevention of school shootings seems almost impossible, what we can control is how we respond as a community to those events.

Moderator: Jenny Almanza

Producer: Jenny Almanza

Anchor: Tamie Benitez

Social Media Editor: Vivian Rayos

Reporters: Jenny Almanza, Tamie Benitez, Damian Gordon, Vivian Rayos and Joe Willeford

One of the biggest news stories this year has been the ongoing health concerns, issues, and even deaths related to vaping. The cause of these health issues remains unknown, but another question is how did vaping turn from the healthier alternative to cigarettes into a public health crisis?

In October, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors placed a ban on e-cigarettes with flavors other than menthol and tobacco.

“E-cigarettes are the first exposure many teens are experiencing with flavored products, and that alone appeals to youth to try [them], and become hooked,” Jessica Galura, an intern for the CSUN College of Health and Human Development, said. “The amount of social media influencers, and marketing that is targeted to the youth, is really what’s getting them right now.”

The Centers for Disease Control report that the death toll linked to vaping is currently at more than forty. Despite this, and the thousands of reported illnesses, some consumers continue to ignore the risks of these products.

“It is about educating, collaborating, developing new programs to help people quit,” the American Lung Association’s Marsha Ramos said. “We are trying to go into school districts and provide some education, as well as limit access to smoking and vaping, because it is quite addictive.”

Dr. Tony Kuo of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health agreed that education is one solution to this ongoing crisis. “In the last three years, the e-cigarette probably went under the radar in terms of regulation,” he said. “I think, for the Public Health Department, I think our number one priority is we need to educate the public.”

Nicotine is the component in vape products that causes addiction, as well as many other health issues. However, some of the reported illnesses have been linked to products containing THC. When addressing addiction, individuals have sought support from a wide range of rehab centers in Oregon.

“If you look at the recent CDC statistics,” Kuo said,  “almost 55 percent of people who have been hospitalized use both THC and nicotine based products. The point is, we don’t know what exactly is causing the illnesses, but we know it is all related to e-cigarettes.”

Experts say nicotine vapes can be a gateway to THC among young people. “It started off with nicotine,” Galura said.  “But it eventually led to THC concentrate vapes, while a lot of the incidents that school administrators tell us about are about THC vapes.”

“About 70 percent of the cases nationwide are associated with THC or CBD,” Dr. Chidinma Chima-Melton of UCLA’s Health Division of Pulmonology said. “Right now, I don’t think we have enough data to say what the best options are to stop this crisis.”

Moderator: Joe Willeford

Producer: Jenny Almanza

Anchor: Vivian Rayos

Social Media Editor: Damian Gordon

Reporters: Jenny Almanza, Tamie Benitez, Damian Gordon, Vivian Rayos, Joe Willeford