On Monday, October 2, 2017 a mass shooting took the lives of 58 people. The shooting took place on the Las Vegas strip at the Route 91 Music Festival across the street from the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

“The amount of people killed during this massacre is shocking,” said Rochester Adams senior Alanis Lee.

The Vegas shooting is the deadliest in modern American history. The Las Vegas massacre was the 273rd mass shooting of the year. Shootings like this can take place anywhere, especially soft targets like music festivals, schools, and public venues. However, mass shootings have become increasing prevalent in today’s world, affecting young adults and kids. These shootings affect the minds of students and kids much more differently than it affects adults. Like the Sandy Hook shooting that took place in 2012 killed 20 children. Even those children not injured were and still are scared by what they witnessed on that day. Because of events like the Las Vegas shooting, safety of students at Adams High School is not taken lightly. At the end of the past school year, cameras were installed around the school. The cameras ensure that the school is under surveillance at all times. Security guards protect the main entrances of the school, while the other doors that lead into the school are locked all day. Also, the school will be undergoing renovations that will include more secure entrances to the school, especially at the front of the building.

“I feel safe at school knowing that it would be hard for an intruder to get into the school without someone seeing,” junior Claire Sanford.

Many of these shootings are happening due to an unstable person having a powerful weapon that cause mass casualties. At Adams, during lockdowns, some students may not take them seriously because people don’t believe these types of events will happen to them. However, because of today’s society and the potential for horrible situations to occur, these drills can easily become a hard reality to any school, which is more reason for students to take the drills seriously to ensure their safety if a real lockdown was to happen.

“There is a need for upgrades to the school to ensure a secure entry way. The works are in place to provide a secure entry way to the school. Also, the school is prepared for a lockdown situation with the help of the Drill Team at school that makes sure all the drills at school are executed correctly,” Assistant Principal Mr. Calcamuggio.

Once a student or young adult has experienced such a tragedy this sticks with them the rest of their life. Meaning they might not be able to do certain things or go to certain places that remind them of the tragedy they went through. Teenagers go through so much stress and anxiety through their life. Their anxiety levels surpass those of depression and the anxiety will only contribute to the stress that they face from school. The idea of these teenagers having more anxiety because they are on edge about shootings happening to them. This will not only hurt them mentally but it will take a toll on their health and they function on a daily basis. This will students and teenagers to look at other means to help them stay concentrated and help lower their anxiety levels.