Over the past decade, school safety has become a major issue. This issue became relevant after the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. It was a terrible shock that hit the nation. Since then, school shootings have become much more of threat. Then, in 2012, a gunman entered the Sandy Hook Elementary school and created mass hysteria. Since this attack, schools across the nation have been trying to step up security. These different security tactics have come in many different ways. Some schools increased their security team, while others installed new alarms. Most schools have been practicing school intruder drills. Our school is starting to use ID cards. This ID card must be worn at all times and be clearly visible. The card simply is a picture, name, and barcode. However, is implementing this form of security really necessary? There are many other tactics that should be used in place of these ID cards. As the new year started, we were given ID cards. Although everyone was given an ID, the school doesn’t enforce the visibility of them. Some students do not even wear the card. Even though it is a simple lanyard, it becomes a hassle to remember. In a school where there are not that many students, the school officials generally know everyone or at least their face. There is no point of wearing an ID card. Instead of wearing an ID card the school should first lock every door and window from the ground up. Secondly, the school should increase the
Improvement in security will also contribute to a safe environment. High schools should implement the use of metal detectors as well as random searches. Although, it may be tedious to remove all metal and coins from your pockets, it will ensure safety. This security measure can be specific to each school. An example being to make the checks random throughout the week or only require it for students to have a late arrival. Random searches can also be specified such as only searching lockers or classrooms. Motion sensored cameras can also be a very effective with safety. In many school’s cameras are only in the hallways and lunchroom, but what happens when violence occurs in a classroom? All evidence will be based off hearsay. This is not an effective way of assessing the incident considering there are 3 sides to every story. Adding motion cameras to classrooms will make evidence accurate. Not only will student-student altercations be recorded, but teacher-student altercations will be recorded. Security guards themselves should also be improved. Security guards should be posted in hallways upon children arrival, during passing periods, and upon school dismissal. Security guards should also be fit enough for the job. “The results indicated that utilization of multiple security measures reduced the likelihood of exposure to property
School should install high tech safety features around their school like cameras or alarm systems. Talking to my cousin Kamalpreet about school security was a must because she goes to school where there were lots of crime-related issues. She always talks about what happened at their school. Kamalpreet said she witnessed lots of crime happening around their school and that their school doesn’t have any type of security arrangements. Many people fight at their school and no one is there to stop them because of lack of security system. She said “no matter what type of school it is they should have security arrangements for their school safety.” Also she said “that as new technology is on the rise and they should make some type of detectors to keep schools safe.” Every school should have some type of security and it is not cheap to get security systems. The whole issue is about money because they are too expensive, so not every school can afford them. There are many ways to raise money if school tries and that money can help with security. Raising money is always an option when it comes down to children’s safety. Teachers should keep children on the right track then they will go into right direction and that will help school as a whole feel safer. If teachers don’t teach anything then children will fight with each other and school won’t feel safe, but that is also up to the students. The Department
Unfortunately, the notion of schools being a safe place is no longer a trend across American schools. Disturbing mass shootings in the U.S continue to shock the media. A school shooting is when someone attacks a school using a gun. The Secret Service says these shootings are "deliberately selected as the location for the attack". The reasons massacres occur in schools is because of poor security, violence in video games/media, and bullying. Shockingly the U.S. has the most school shootings than any other country in the world. According to the FBI, mass shootings occur, on average, every 2 weeks in the U.S. While the cause of school shootings are sometimes unpredictable, it is a growing issue and they need to be prevented. Most shooters don’t have mental issues, they have a plan to kill, so there is no singular cause that creates violent people. On April 16th, 2007, the most deadly school massacre occurred. Seung-Hui Cho killed thirty-two students at Virginia-Tech. As Americans, we no longer should turn on the news and witness these gruesome murders. We try to make sense of these murders, but it’s ineffectual. There are measures we can take as a society to help. The number one question in a school massacre is, "why would a person that has a capable sense of mind even do that?” It is our moral responsibility to fix these issues. In order to stop this problem, we need to find its roots.
After the Sandy Hook, there were countless ways for students to be safe at school. In Preparing for the Unthinkable: School Safety after Sandy Hook news article, Vicki Bauman said, “ Instead of gates, guns, and metal detectors, let’s invest in the things we know will make us safer: counselors, health care, teaching positive behavior, and making sure we have services to reach out to disconnected youth and pull them back on track.” Therefore, violence is not the answer to any question or issue. The community and school system should take a stand and get the necessities that the schools need to have a safe environment for the students and faculty and staff. The school can invest in law enforcement. The law enforcement will be able to conduct a consistent search through a metal detector. The law enforcement will help the students to avoid bringing prohibited weapons to school as well as, there to protect the school.
According to the NCSL, National Conference of State Legislatures “Over the last five years, campus safety legislation has been a hot issue across the country”. Authors like Jazz Silva are standing up for student’s rights that some State Legislatures might not care about. Not only are weapons dangerous but it is unsafe to students who may struggle with mental health issues. College campuses are safer than the communities that surround them. The University of Louisiana system states “93% of the violence against students occurs off campus.” Allowing guns on campus would lead to an escalation in violence, can lead to an increased number of suicides by college students, and the possibility that a weapon can go off by accident.
School shootings are terrifying and a big problem in today’s society. Schools have added lockdown drills, bullet proof glass and metal detectors. School should be a safe area for children to learn instead of fearing for their life. Instead of buying metal detectors and hiring more officers, there is a much easier solution in order to decrease and prevent school shootings. We have to be more alert about securing weapons at home and being aware of suspicious behavior at school in order to keep children and faculty safe.
To promote a healthy learning environment that potentially increases school funding, the first recommendation for schools is to remove all metal detectors on school campus. Having excessive forms of security measures can only be counter-productive to the results that schools want to see. The purpose of school institutions is to promote a learning environment, not an environment where it has become an evolved form of the prison system. Removing metal detectors in its entirety would allow schools to allocate the existing funds to support school administrators or counselors. The use of metal detectors are not only excessive, but perpetuates the image of the prison industrial
April 20, 2018 17 people killed by a gunmen at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. April 20, 1999 13 people killed buy two gunmen at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. My point is is that where do these gun laws take place, never? why do we decide to sell these mentally ill people guns when they are causing these school shootings when are we going to change these gun laws, how are these kids getting guns. What we need to do is if people have records of being mentally ill we need to not sell the these guns, if we make it so mentally ill people cant get there hands on guns there would be a big decrees in school shootings, In 2018 alone there where 20 school shooting where people where hurt or killed.
How would you feel if you were a teacher and a shooter killed one of your students? I can only imagine the grief and guilt you would feel. “What more could I have done do save this innocent student’s life?” you might ask. Many teachers have to face this question every year, as the number of school shootings rise. Well, I think there is a way to protect your students and keep your school from being an easy target. If select teachers were armed, than schools would become harder targets, and students would have a better chance of surviving a shooting.
Shootings at schools have increased significantly over the past years and have now become a huge talking point in today's society. Many people believe it is the guns fault and people are protesting to put stricter gun laws in effect and some are even wanting guns ban from civilians entirely. On the opposite end of the spectrum there have been efforts to arm teachers and school officers to try and prevent school shooting. One possible reason school shooting are such a big problem is the backstory of the shooters. One of the biggest reason kids are bringing guns to school is bullying. The recent parkland shooting showed this when the gun law activist emma gonzalez openly admitted to bullying the shooter. The only two ways people are coming up
America has been faced with the threat of terrorism, time and time again; and the American government is dealing with the problem of preventing future terrorist attacks. So, why are Americans who are aware of the eminent threat, surprised and angered to find out that the government is collecting phone records of ordinary Americans? Shouldn’t National Security be more important the minor invasion of Americans privacy?
Schools need to maintain a disciplined and safe learning environment. There are many disciplinary actions that are in use today and although some can disagree about the amount of discipline that is best for maturing children, it is reasonable to be in agreement that a positive learning environment begins with physical and emotional safety. School safety includes a broad range of matters, including, fighting, bullying, drugs, alcohol, weapons, and etc. Many schools use varying methods in an effort to maintain school safety. Some schools limit school access and require all visitors to sign in. Physical surveillance is another common method of addressing school safety issues along with use of staff and student identification. Among all these
Back in the past many have focused on drug and alcohol use in school students along with students carrying weapons to schools, and it seemed as if no one was recognizing the significance of school bullying. For victims of bullying, they go to school every day facing harassment, taunting, and humiliation. Kids today come home and kill themselves or never want to go back to school because of BULLYING. “Studies show that 25-35% of teens encountered some type of bullying in their lifetime (Nansel et al,).” Bullying is a form of violent behavior that happens not only in the schools but everywhere. Kids everywhere have been exposed to bullying in school for generations and ages . Although bullying has always been a factor the consequences for
School discipline is to ensure that students and the campus staff are safe and peaceful. According to the U.S. Department of Education on Rethinking Discipline (2017), “Teachers and students deserve school environments that are safe, supportive, and conducive to teaching and learning.” The idea is to decrease bad behavior and school violence which will lead to fewer suspensions and expulsions. There are rules and limitations when it comes to student discipline; there are acts in which students can and must be disciplined. For examples, if a student quality’s for special needs some different guidelines protect them under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act’s (IDEA). Furthermore, the Education Code, Section 48900 was implied to discipline students who committed any wrongful doing such as attempting or threatening to physical harm another person. In the case f any wrongfulness, the student is forced to be disciplined by being suspended or expulsed from school.
School violence, in recent history, seems to have taken the United States by storm. Be it a shooting, such as the Columbine High School shooting in 1999, the inappropriate relationships between teacher and student, such as Stephanie Figueroa whom initiated one such relationship with her 11-year-old karate student, or the multiple fights we see on social media that take place in schools. With each passing week, we see a new story that falls in one of these categories. Today, we look at the types of, causes of and how to prevent violence in what should be a safe place and second home for our youth.