BY THE SOUTHERNER EDITORIAL BOARD

When news of the school shooting in Ohio reached our unsuspecting ears, we were disturbed, naturally. Hearing that 17-year-old T.J. Lane killed three of his schoolmates and injured two others sent shivers up our spines. It made us question how susceptible we are to such events here at Grady.

On Feb. 27, Lane walked into his school and fired ten shots from a .22-caliber pistol, supposedly aiming at no one in particular. Lane’s ease of bringing a weapon on campus and harming his classmates forces us to look into security measures taken at Grady. If a student truly wanted to bring harm to the student body, the few preventative measures we have wouldn’t stand in his or her way. They could come with a weapon in their book bag in the morning, undetected, and wait for what they deemed the perfect opportunity to unleash destruction. Who would stop them? Would the infrequently locked school gates stop them? Probably not. Would the non-functional metal detector catch them? Definitely not.

We as students need to become more aware. We need to band together to enforce school safety rules when our administration fails to do so, if only for our individual safety. Lane was described as an outcast and experienced a variety of home troubles. Before the shooting, Lane posted a very ominous status that should’ve been recognized as a call for help: “In a quaint, lonely town, sits a man with a frown. No job. No family. No crown. His luck had run out. Lost and alone, so, to the castle he proceeds, like an ominous breeze through the trees. ‘Stay back!’ The Guards screamed as they were thrown to their knees. ‘Oh God, have mercy, please!’” Considering his home life was far from nurturing, why didn’t his school counselors step in? Why didn’t one of the multitudes of adults who saw him every day step in before it came to this?

If a student looked troubled and became more and more withdrawn,  would a teacher, parent, counselor or even fellow student come to their rescue? We would hope so.
We want change. We want metal detectors that work, and most importantly, we want students who need help or a listening ear to get it. We never want something this horrific to happen at Grady or any school, and we are willing to do what it takes to make sure it doesn’t. We aren’t simply issuing a call to action; we’re issuing a warning meant to prevent the untimely death of students body due to violence.