Student Killed, Two Others Injured In High School Stabbing
A Jacksonville school stabbing has left one student dead, and two others injured as parents and students reel from the incident.
A new school year just began for students attending the Northside High School in Jacksonville, North Carolina. But just four days in, the year is marred by a school stabbing that occurred early in the morning on Thursday, September 1st. It is part of a grave uptick in adolescent crime all across the nation, which is changing the way parents and children alike view schools.
According to reports from CNN, one student is dead, and two others were injured in an early morning school stabbing that took place just as the bell was ringing around 7 a.m. The children involved were all minors so their names are not being released. The incident appears to be part of an altercation, and staff stepped in and were injured as well.
Northside High School has student resource officers (SROs) as part of a school safety measure. One was on the scene of the school stabbing in seconds but could not prevent the death of a student. However, had he not arrived swiftly, more lives may have been taken. The SRO detained one student, but a teacher who stepped in sustained injuries as well.
Following the tragic school stabbing event, students won’t return to the campus today, September 2nd. Instead, they will attend school virtually, returning to in-person classes next Tuesday. It is unclear whether the school will ramp up counselor presence for students in need. Regardless, parents express concerns resonating with others across the nation who have been touched by school violence recently.
Melissa Brison Mack, a parent with three children attending the high school spoke with CNN about the school stabbing and its effect on her family. Frightened, she recalls how her 9th, 10th, and 11th graders had just arrived at school 15 minutes before the altercation. Her oldest hid with a friend in a car. The other two waited outside until school officials led them into the cafeteria for lockdown—a procedure students are all too familiar with today.
Mack instantly knew something awful had occurred when she got a notification within minutes of the school stabbing asking parents not to send their children to school if they weren’t there already. The tentative response from school officials was much faster in Jacksonville than it was just days before during a school shooting across the country in California. In Oakland, parents were furious when their children’s school left them in the dark for hours regarding a school shooting that claimed the life of a student.
The Jacksonville mother also noted that she had recently had a conversation with one of her children about school safety- something more and more families are doing on a regular basis. She was discussing plans for how to respond to a school shooter, not even thinking about having to discuss how to handle someone with a knife. Prior to the school stabbing, the high school had already ramped up security measures, but it may not be enough to stop violent incidents like this that result in the death of students.
Northside High School has more SROs, swipe door locks, and security cameras, but this incident signifies how little these measures can help in situations such as physical altercations and school stabbings. Now, school officials are considering extra steps like metal detectors and clear backpacks. Whether or not this will be enough to keep children alive is unknown, but officials and parents can no longer sit by as more children succumb to the effects of school violence.
