After the horrible events that took place at a Florida school earlier this week, the debate around gun control in the US. An ex-student at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School opened fire on staff and students with an AR-15 rifle, killing 17 and injuring 15 others.

Unfortunately, this is not even the first school shooting this year, which has left many parents nervous for their children's welfare when they send them off each day. One mother, an educator living in Texas, was curious whether her son was taking the preparatory shooting drills seriously or not, so asked him about their routine.

Tanai Benard, a single mother, has since written about her conversation with the 10-year-old Dezmond, which struck a chord with people all over the world. At first, she just wanted to know whether the 5th grader was using the time to "socialize and goof off", but as they walked to school together she found out something entirely different.

First, she asked him what they are supposed to do during the lockdown procedure, and he told her:

"The teacher is suppose to shut and lock the door, put the black paper over the window on the door.
Then myself and three other boys are suppose to push the table against the door."

"After that all the class is going to stand behind us on the back wall."

When she questioned him about it, he told her that the class stands behind him and three other boys in the class. For Tanai, this set her mind racing. She said:

"I internally went from 0 to 100 real quick. My child is one of only 2 black children in a class of 23. Being transparent, I immediately went to the "why is my black son being put on the front line?" (Just being real) So I asked before I verbally stated my thoughts"

"Why did you get picked to stand in front of everyone else if a shooter came in your school?" she asked her son. But to her surprise, he said:

"I didn't get picked. I volunteered to push the table and protect my friends"

As if this wasn't enough of a shock, his reasoning showed that while she thought the worst, his motives were as pure as can be. The selfless 10-year-old explained to his mother:

"If it came down to it I would rather be the one that died protecting my friends then have an entire class die and I be the only one that lived"

[[facebookwidget||https://www.facebook.com/tanai.benard/posts/10213919492435100]]

The mother said that it took all she had not to breakdown on the spot and still has a lump in her throat from hearing her young son say that. "10 damn years old and this has to be our babies thought process in America," she said in the Facebook post, which has since amassed 150,000 shares and over 300,000 reactions.

While it is uplifting to see that a child as young as Dezmond has the thought to put himself on the line like this, what's upsetting is that he has to make plans for this eventuality at all.

The 15-year-old suspect who is alleged to have fatally shot four fellow students and injured at least eight had a meeting with the school, along with his parents, over his "behavior in the classroom" just hours before the shooting.

As reported by Sky News, Ethan Crumbley had an initial talk with officials at his high school in Oxford, Michigan, on Monday, November 29, and on Tuesday, a short while before the rampage, Crumbley and his parents met with administrators at the school.

The meeting arose after other students at the school claimed they had seen threats online that somebody was planning to "shoot up the school".

Per The New York Post, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on Wednesday at a press briefing: "We also were told that the school had some information or some kind of contact with the school."

He added: "We have since learned that the school did have contact with the student the day before and the day of the shooting for behaviors in the classroom that they felt was concerning.

"In fact, the parents were brought in the morning of the shooting and had a face-to-face meeting with the school. The content of that meeting of course is part of the investigation."

Initially, it was reported that three students had been killed in the shooting. Sadly, a fourth student has since succumbed to his injuries.

Crumbley has been charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder, terrorism, assault, and weapons possession.

He was arraigned and taken from a juvenile facility to the Oakland County Jail, an adult facility.

The incident occurred some weeks after the school released a statement to parents and students assuring them they were safe.

Per The Independent, the statement, issued on November 12, read: "We want our parents and students to know there has been no threat to our building nor our students.

"The safety and security of our students and staff is always our top priority. To accomplish this task, OHS has numerous highly-trained professionals who work to keep our building safe and secure.

"We have counselors and social workers who work with students daily. We also have two highly-trained security guards and an Oakland County Resource Officer on site who assist us as well."

Featured image credit:  Peter Noyce PLB / Alamy

The 15-year-old suspect who is alleged to have fatally shot four fellow students and injured at least eight had a meeting with the school, along with his parents, over his "behavior in the classroom" just hours before the shooting.

As reported by Sky News, Ethan Crumbley had an initial talk with officials at his high school in Oxford, Michigan, on Monday, November 29, and on Tuesday, a short while before the rampage, Crumbley and his parents met with administrators at the school.

The meeting arose after other students at the school claimed they had seen threats online that somebody was planning to "shoot up the school".

Per The New York Post, Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard said on Wednesday at a press briefing: "We also were told that the school had some information or some kind of contact with the school."

He added: "We have since learned that the school did have contact with the student the day before and the day of the shooting for behaviors in the classroom that they felt was concerning.

"In fact, the parents were brought in the morning of the shooting and had a face-to-face meeting with the school. The content of that meeting of course is part of the investigation."

Initially, it was reported that three students had been killed in the shooting. Sadly, a fourth student has since succumbed to his injuries.

Crumbley has been charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder, terrorism, assault, and weapons possession.

He was arraigned and taken from a juvenile facility to the Oakland County Jail, an adult facility.

The incident occurred some weeks after the school released a statement to parents and students assuring them they were safe.

Per The Independent, the statement, issued on November 12, read: "We want our parents and students to know there has been no threat to our building nor our students.

"The safety and security of our students and staff is always our top priority. To accomplish this task, OHS has numerous highly-trained professionals who work to keep our building safe and secure.

"We have counselors and social workers who work with students daily. We also have two highly-trained security guards and an Oakland County Resource Officer on site who assist us as well."

Featured image credit:  Peter Noyce PLB / Alamy

America has more mass shootings than every other civilized country. After the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, in which 17 people were killed, the surviving students have ignited a movement. They're demanding adequate legislation to stop the epidemic of gun violence, such as by banning the AR-15, enforcing universal background checks and making it illegal for a mentally ill person to buy a gun. (The Parkland shooter was 19, mentally ill, and legally purchased the AR-15, which he used to commit the massacre).

However, it's difficult to pass any new gun control legislation, because so many lawmakers are corrupt, accepting millions of dollars each year from the NRA. Also, gun owners are successful at spinning even the most minor gun restriction as "taking everyone's guns away." Rather, they propose an alternative solution: The schools should arm the teachers, or hire an armed guard who is a military veteran or police officer. (Even though there was an armed guard at Parkland.) We've heard a lot of debate about all this recently - but how about arming the students?

Most kids get toys for their fifth birthday. Adriana MacDonald got a 22 caliber Ruger. Her, father, Joshua, 26, got her the pistol because she struck up an interest in his shooting hobby. Now they go out together every weekend in Tilton, New Hampshire, to fire some rounds. Despite her youth, Joshua insists his daughter knows how to safely handle the weapon. He believes those skills could come in handy, if her school is ever attacked"

"With school shootings becoming so common these last few years [my fiancee and I] both want her prepared and ready to defend herself if at all possible with a firearm. New Hampshire just passed a new concealed carry law that requires nothing more then a simple pistol permit to keep a gun anywhere including your purse and my daughter already wants a pistol holding purse."

After training Adriana with a B.B. gun, they moved up to the 22 Ruger, picking that particular pistol because it has a light recoil. To those who didn't grow up around guns, training a six-year-old to shoot may seem absurd. But in many rural areas across the U.S., it's considered normal. Joshua says so long as you teach proper safety, six years old is not too young. When he was six, he started hunting with his dad, and he can't wait to start the hunting tradition with his daughter. She loves shooting, just like him.

"Adrianna has a blast shooting and enjoys taking our time learning the proper ways to handle firearms and especially making targets... I have been hunting and shooting since I was about six or seven and it was an avid part of my youth and a great deal of my good memories with my father were while hunting/shooting.

"When I was growing up I had friends who showed interest in guns but didn’t have proper training with them or education. You could easily see the difference in how they handled a firearm. Honestly that scared me so I do my best to teach my family how to do it properly and safely."

Joshua does not oppose banning the AR-15, because he thinks that would not prevent anyone from getting it. According to him, they would just get it illegally. However, he does support arming teachers, as well as hiring armed guards that are retired marines or army veterans. Some people might criticize him for teaching his six-year-old daughter how to shoot. When asked what he would say to his critics, Joshua replied:

"Get a grip and open your eyes. Scaring your children away from guns is not going to help the situation. Educate them, familiarize them with them, support them... Maybe your kid could be the one who ends up saving an entire school or club from a mass shooting…simply by educating them on the topic of guns and safe handling."

 

Two days ago, a teenager armed with a semiautomatic weapon shot at crowds of students at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. At least 17 people were killed during the attack, and a further 14 sustained injuries. Nicolas Cruz, who was a former pupil at the school, has appeared in court for the first time today after pleading guilty to 17 counts of premeditated murder. Since the attack, at least one other person has made threats to attack their school. A high school student from South Carolina was arrested after posting an image of himself on Snapchat with the caption, "Round 2 of Florida tomorrow". He has since been charged with disturbing a school, even though he insists it was a joke. Now, even more shockingly, an 11-year-old girl has been arrested after it was discovered that she put a threatening note under her assistant principle's office door. Jasmine Powell, a student at Nova Middle School, penned the note herself. It said: "I will bring a gun to school to kill all you ugly a** kids and teachers b****. I will bring the gun Feb. 16, 18. Be prepared B****." Davie police stated that they were made away of the note after Powell was spotted on CCTV camera. Despite the girl being so young, it's still a felony to threaten to kill or impose bodily harm on somebody, so law enforcement had to take her message seriously - especially in the wake of what has just happened. "This arrest is evident that these types of crimes will be taken serious," said Davie police spokesman Mark Leone. After she was arrested, the sixth-grade student confessed to having written and delivered the note, but claimed she was coerced into doing so. According to her, another girl in her class had threatened to start a fight with her if she did not write the threat. "So to avoid getting in a fight with her friend I put the letter under the door," Powell's confession read. Since the shooting, several pupils from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have come forward to give their accounts of what happened, but also to share their opinions on gun control. "People get used to what’s going on and that’s not OK," said David Hogg, a 17-year-old survivor of the attack. "We’re habituating to this and what happens when we do that is children are dying and they will continue to die unless we stop it. Stand up and take action." Another student took to Twitter in order to reply to Donald Trump's tweet, in which he said "my prayers and condolences to the families of the victims". In response, the student - Sarah Chad - said that "prayers won't fix this, but gun control will prevent it from happening again." [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/ashleyfeinberg/status/964141485829566467]] More information about the killer has been released in the last 48 hours, namely that he was a member of a white nationalist group, and also that he posted multiple images of himself holding guns and knives on Instagram. Whether or not this will at last be the final straw for anti-gun control advocates is yet to be seen - but it's certainly sparked another wave of discussion in the ongoing debate.