SAN DIEGO--Gun violence and school safety, student disengagement and desensitization – these and other issues dominated the discussion among students from urban high schools at the Council of the Great City Schools’ national town hall meeting. The town hall was moderated by Sequoia Carrillo, a K-12 education reporter for National Public Radio.

“A big national issue that’s impacted my school is gun violence—we’ve suffered two pretty traumatic events in the past year,” said Kate Todd, a senior from Denver Public Schools.

“The hardest thing is seeing the desensitization of students,” she said. An example is lockdown drills – students seem noncaring, she said, “because we’re just so used to it happening over and over.”

Matthew Quitoriano, a junior from the San Diego Unified School District, and others expressed agreement.

“I know how messy politics is right now, but honestly, when we see our peers getting gunned down in schools, we don’t care – gun reform now, gun reform yesterday, gun reform tomorrow,” Quitoriano said.

Elena Ramos, a senior from the Dallas Independent School District, added perspective: “The number one thing teachers are there to do is to educate us, right? And now with all the gun violence, they have to be first responders. We have metal detectors and clear mesh backpacks. My district is having to make up for what our government has been lacking in. Kids’ lives are on the line here, and we’re just trying to get an education.”

Carrillo asked the panelists to describe effective programs or supports.

“When you know there’s that one teacher that you can go to and be your vulnerable self, it becomes a lot easier. Just make sure that students have a safe person on campus,” said Zoey Schwartz, a senior from the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“And don’t underestimate the power of school clubs,” they added. “I have found such great communities and people who are going through the same things I’m going through and who want to talk about the same issues I want to talk about.”

Arabelle Deason, a junior in the Washoe County School District in Reno, Nevada concurred. “Cultivating connections helps so much,” Deason said. “We’re having this huge issue—students aren’t coming to school, aren’t trying in school, students are having anxiety, depression. Let’s create a community where students feel pride in their school, where they know people love them and care about them and want them to be safe and educated. Yeah, I think that is at the root of it—it’s just community.”

The important role of school counselors was cited by Hanan Ali, a junior in Minnesota’s St. Paul Public Schools, who noted with dismay that those educators are overwhelmed. “You’ll have 4,000 kids and two counselors—there’s absolutely no way those two counselors can reach out to every one of those students....

“That’s why it’s a great thing to have clubs, to build community,” she said. “At my school, it’s mandatory to be in at least one extracurricular. They’re quite literally forcing you to get out there and make some friends.”

Jamir Lawson, a senior in Baltimore City Public Schools, gave a shoutout to his district for its efforts to improve student relations with school police. The district conducts “stakeholder surveys to make sure that students feel seen and heard,” Lawson said.

 But, he said, students remain wary. “It almost feels like it’s us against them. School police say that they’re there to protect us, but students don’t feel that way.”

Over policing of students, he said, is something “adults typically get wrong--aggressively searching bags, questioning students. ... We need to get to the root of the problem and figure out why we’re having these issues in our schools.”

On another topic, Carrillo sought comment on how to support LGBTQ+ students. Schwartz responded that school can be a safe place for students who have a different identity who may be bullied at home.

“I think teaching not only queer history, but history of all identities is really, really important,” they added. “If we’re not allowing students to learn about their identity, how are they going to ever feel safe and comfortable?”

The students repeatedly referenced the issue of burnout and the various factors contributing to that condition.

“There are tons and tons of issues that we know we’re facing,” said Kariana Douglas, a senior at Broward County Public Schools in Florida. “A couple that really stick out are gun violence and feeling safe in school. It’s on our minds a lot.”

Deason agreed, adding the complicating factor of information bombardment. “We see all of these huge world issues that are happening in real time, and it feels overwhelming. It causes students to just shut down.”

The one thing to remember, she said, “is that we’re in a mental health crisis and it’s impacting us as students and it’s impacting all the adults in the world. I feel we just need to give each other a little bit of grace.”