​In this unprecedented time of school shootings, we must rethink how we protect our children.  My solution to this conundrum is technology.  We need the tech sector collaborating  with educators to determine innovative ways to identify guns on campus and alert school authorities, staff and students. If we can get a spacecraft to Pluto and create autonomous vehicles, we can find a nonintrusive way to fortify our schools and keeps kids safe through technology.

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With the increase of gun violence in high schools and its correlation to mental illness, schools need to find comprehensive ways to support students and families that struggle with mental illness. Because adolescents are generally more stressed today than in the past, one way schools can begin to address the issue is by hiring trained mental health therapists. When identified, schools and districts must work with the community organizations to address the issues. This is just one part of the solution, comprehensive ongoing training for staff is also necessary (Payton, Wardlaw, Graczyk, Bloodworth, Tompsett, Weissberg, 2009).

 

Schools have seen a dramatic increase in the use of marijuana by high schoolers. Yet, research is clear that marijuana negatively impacts adolescent brain development. In cases, where there are prolonged usage, the effects have been compared to that of lead. The best way to prevent children from using marijuana and other drugs  is for educators, parents and students to stay informed and for parents to stay close to their children.  Adolescents are most vulnerable and the most preyed upon because they unwittingly believe they have figured everything out. It also at time in which they are being bombarded with social media and the stresses that come with it (WAng & Sheikh-Khalil, 2013). 

 

Drug prevention programs which teach kids the ill effects of drugs are another way to prevent  kids from experimenting with the drug in the first place.

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What the research says