By Yael Even

According to Education Week, there have been seven school shootings in 2023 alone. Since 2018, there have been 151 school shootings across the nation. Junior Lainey Deitrick from Searcy, Ark. remembers the day she first learned of a school shooting.

“My first reaction was honestly probably just shock,” Deitrick said. “School is a place where you feel safe and comfortable to learn and grow. I think that’s just like, like everyone’s worst nightmare.” 

Deitrick recalls hearing about the Sandy Hook school shooting on the news when she was 10 years-old. Though school shootings have been occurring more frequently, she feels like the media covers them less and less.

Coverage of shootings is prioritized by the death toll or horror and shock value, according to the Washington Post. This results in smaller shootings to fall under the cracks when it comes to national coverage. 

Gary Crain, Captain of Support Services and Public Information Officer at the University of Arkansas, said the last shooting on campus happened in the year 2000. 

With the increase of school shootings, Crain said police officers undergo more training. While campus officials are trying to do their part, Crain said the community must look out for one another.

“If they see anything suspicious, or hear anything, or see something on social media, it is very important to pass that information along to law enforcement,” Crain said. “It’s much easier to prevent something from happening than to respond to the point it’s happening. Knowledge is highly important and someone comes across something like that.”

With the digital age on the rise, Crain said threats have been linked to social media with about every case. He shared it’s up to the community to make sure campus officials and UAPD are informed.

Although Deitrick has grown up in a hunting family, she said her family has always harped on gun safety. With her background, Deitrick is not afraid to bring awareness to the issue at hand on her college campus. 

“This has become more of a conversation between me and my friends,” Deitrick said. “Just the fact that someone can drop a book in the hallway and it could be a book or it could be something a lot worse.”

John Thomas, Director of Media Relations and Core Communications on campus, said safety is a primary concern. 

“We encourage the community to let us know of incidents or potential safety concerns so they may be investigated,” Thomas said via email. “Our university police officers, emergency management team and other safety personnel work around the clock to help provide a safe learning environment on campus. They work with groups on campus and in the community on various educational initiatives, and collaborate with local entities to facilitate regular training opportunities to be prepared for any scenario.”

With Arkansas being an open-carry state, Crain said a person can carry concealed handguns on campus. To carry on campus, there is a required eight-hour training program through the Arkansas State Police. Students living on campus dorms, sororities and fraternity houses, can only store their gun in an unattended and locked vehicle or on their own property.

Deitrick said she would like to see more background checks and mental health support for gun owners. With mental health associated with school shooting incidents, Dietrick has even suggested an anonymous helpline and private support for students on campus.

“Even when everything seems fine with someone, you just never really know what’s going through their head,” Deitrick said.

Deitrick has been proud to call the University of Arkansas home for the past three years, yet she said there’s always a thought in the back of her head.

“I feel safe on my college campus,” Deitrick said. “But it’s still like that ‘what if,’ that’s in the back of my mind?”