Monroe Elementary School after school hours. SYDNEY TATOM/OU

In the wake of the Apalachee High School shooting last month in Georgia, the issue of gun violence in schools has reached a critical point, sparking renewed calls for action in school settings across America. 

In the last decade the United States has seen a sharp increase in the annual number of school shootings, specifically after the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre that left 28 students and teachers dead inside of a Connecticut elementary school. 

Following the years after the COVID-19 Pandemic, the United States saw yet another sharp increase in gun violence, with 2022 being the deadliest due to the the Robb Elementary shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 21 dead, including 2 teachers and 19 students. 

In 2024 alone there have been over 50 school shootings across the nation, at least 44 of those being on kindergarten-12 grade campuses, according to data from Education Week and the Gun Violence Archive. 

While the focus often centers on the immediate impact gun violence in schools has on students, the emotional and mental impact on teachers and educators are frequently overlooked, raising many concerns of the mental health of educators. 

“I feel it so heavily. It just weighs on you. Just because it’s not happening currently at my school it’s happening everywhere and I will go into these spirals to where I cannot stop thinking about it,” said Monroe Elementary Librarian Faith Reed. 

Reed said that she’s been able to create tight bonds with the students that pass through her library. Anytime she hears of gun violence in schools on the news, she thinks of the possibility of it happening to her own students. 

Reed expressed that she has experienced multiple panic attacks resulting from the stress. 

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, there has been a significant increase in threats made to campuses all across the nation, causing classrooms to go into lockdown for hours while these threats are being investigated.

Over the past several weeks, several schools in Oklahoma have been the subject of these threats. 

On Sept. 17 alone, four districts in Oklahoma including Moore, were under a lockdown awaiting these threats to be investigated. 

Oklahoma alone has faced 8 mass shootings as of October of this year, compared to the 7 in 2023. 

According to the World Population Review, Oklahoma has experienced 22 school shooting incidents from 1970 to mid-Apr. of 2023, with an increase in the annual number of shootings, each becoming more deadly than the last. 

The annual increase in school shootings has significantly affected veteran teachers who have experienced the sharp change in atmosphere around school safety and security. 

“I think it was after Columbine when we started doing the drills, half the class was crying because they were scared but we just had to practice it. Sadly it’s a reality for kids these days,” said Broadmoore Elementary Librarian Denise Testerman. 

Testerman said it’s been interesting to see the change from when she first began teaching to now. She remembers when she was able to keep her classroom door wide open. Now, she keeps her doors locked at all times, in the event an intruder enters the building.  

Though these statistics have a significant impact on some teachers, others remain confident in their ability to protect their classrooms and foster a safe environment for their students. 

 “I have had nerves like if there is an intruder or if we were on a lockdown drill would I be able to keep those kids safe. Should I be able to do what I am supposed to do or would my anxiety take over and I would break down,” said Taylor Niehoff, a first year Spanish teacher at Whittier Middle School. 

“That’s not something I’m ever going to know until it’s happening, but I think I’ve experienced enough with my students to know that I will protect those kids at all costs,” Niehoff added.