Columbia student group hopes for change following Georgia high school shooting

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Hickman High School students who are members of Students For Change are hoping to channel sadness into action after Wednesday shooting at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia.

Senior Karli Jones -- Students For Change's president -- said she is tired of a lack of action to stop school shootings.

"In kindergarten, we were doing active-shooter drills, I remember it like playing, 'Who can find the heaviest book to throw at a shooter?'" Jones said. "I just wish that people could see that being sad is one thing, and doing something about it is another, and that we have to transition into doing something and supporting people that are doing things."

Through Students For Change, the group was able to help promote the purchase of weapon detection systems in Columbia Public Schools.

The system was added to Hickman High School over the summer and has been used this school year.

The new system added Opengate weapons detection systems to the West and North entrances of the building. The West entrance being open in the mornings, and the North being opened throughout the day.

According to Jones, there has been some backups when students are entering the building. Similar stories were reported at Rock Bridge High School.

"We thought maybe there would be a period of adjustment for them to figure out how the weapons detection system was going to work," Jones said. "But right now, it's just becoming apparent that something is going to have to be done and that more detectors are going to have to be added or students are going to be miserable."

An additional issue that has come up is that due to thee not being an Opengate system at the East entrance, students who have morning classes in the unattached fine arts building are required to walk around the school to the West entrance to get back into the main building.

"It disrupts student flow in a way that makes students have to walk down the entire block, which is dangerous," Jones said. "This is a high crime area, there's a lot of incidents down here, and we don't want students to be put in dangerous situations in a different way."

Students For Change has also gathered data from the student body through student surveys and found that 56% of students said that the community is not informed about day-to-day life at Hickman; and 75% of students claim district officials are not informed about day-to-day life.

The group plans to present these student concerns in a public community event soon.

"We shouldn't have to do this," Jones said. " I wish we didn't have to have the conversations with administration about weapon detectors and ID checks and all of that, but the truth is that we do need it because we live in a country where we have to have it."

ABC 17 News reached out to Columbia Public Schools and the Missouri School Boards’ Association.