May 18, 2018, 7:40 a.m. Seventeen-year-old student Dimitrios Pagourtzis opened fire, killing 10 high school students and injuring another 13 at Santa Fe High School.

This event marked the 22nd school shooting in the United States in 2018. The shooting at Santa Fe took place in the Houston area, only a few hours away. This recurring event has changed the way schools address the safety of their students daily.

On campus, steps have been taken towards a safer environment. Compared to previous years, more officers are on campus and safety drills are practiced routinely throughout the school year, resulting in an overall more serious view on school safety.

“We’re not on [students’] social media,” school resource officer Dan Venezuela said. “We’re not on [students’] Snapchat or Instagram. We’re not on any of that. We ourselves have our training that we do every year, we do that part, but the intel of actually what the kids are doing has to come from the other kids.”

Students on campus believe like administration and local law enforcement are doing all they can to keep us safe. Others believe further steps could be taken.

“Perhaps they could put more money to safety rather than football,” sophomore Hiram Luciano Olivencia said. “Another thing we could do is more mock scenarios. In Japan, we did fire, earthquake, and intruder scenarios; we did those a lot. Here, not so much, so I don’t feel as safe.”

The recent precautions taken as a result of all of the tragedies and violence plaguing public schools in the nation have delivered polarizing perspectives, but the overall goal remains the same.

“Our main purpose is safety; to make sure people behave,” Valenzuela said. “If everybody would follow the rules, then everything would be good.”