Student Privacy vs Student Safety

In today's school system, there have been uproars about the student's privacy and safety at the schoolhouse. Some parents feel that their child's safety is more important because of the rules that the school has set forth to maintain a safe environment. Others feel that their child's privacy should be taken seriously because they should be treated more like an adult. In recent news, there has been concerns about the student's safety that cause some to get injured or killed; while, student's privacy has cause the police to get involved. The school system should be concerned as well as, aware about the student’s privacy and safety at their prospective school.

Sitting through an hour-long lecture or waiting in line to speak with financial aid are some examples of an average day on campus. It is during these times when students are least expecting tragedy to strike. A student may hear a loud noise and think nothing of it until they realize that noise was the sound of a shooting rampage that has reached their area and by that time it’s usually too late. Campus safety is everyone’s responsibility and remaining on alert is the only way to ensure less people are victimized. One of the first, and most memorable, attacks happened on August 1, 1966. Charles Whitman, a former marine, took rifles and other weapons to the observation deck atop the Main Building tower at The University of Texas- Austin, then randomly opened fire on the surrounding campus and streets. Over the next 96 minutes, far longer than the average active shooter attack, he shot and killed fifteen people. Included in the death toll was one unborn child, and injured thirty-one others. The incident ended when police reached Whitman and shot him dead. During this event, civilians played a vital role in assisting first responders in the take down of Whitman and Allen Crum, a 40-year-old bookstore manager and retired Air Force tail gunner, accompanied police up the tower in pursuit of Whitman. While Crum was armed, it solely because officers handed him a firearm to assist in Whitman’s take down.

What can one learn from this violent tragedy, what mistakes did this instance have that can help evade other similar instances? It is commonly believed that there is no such thing as bad publicity, but maybe some schools would disagree with this statement, and take publicity more seriously than the welfare of their faculty, staff, and students. A school with a debauched reputation is not going to receive countless applicants, but is that a valid justification for not reporting disturbances and protecting their students? I believe that if turbulences exist, like a student threatening or shooting at people, schools should warn the cops right away. Mary Hoeft, a professor of communication arts and French at the University of Wisconsin – Barron County, wrote “Professors in the Crosshairs,” an article about incidents that have occurred at her school that should have been associated with the police. Hoeft addressed a situation that occurred at her school, where a disturbed young female student raged down the campus, yelling that she wanted to kill her English professor by aging her 120 years with a magic umbrella; luckily, the professor was out of town at a conference with

Date rapes, hate crimes and theft have become an apparent concern on college campuses. The most disturbing crime on a college campus is a school shooting. Being a victim of any crime is the last thing any student or parent thinks of when choosing a college or university. The possibilities of danger on a college campus have been increasing over the years due to the reported crimes ranging from theft to murder. Because of the recent years of college campus reported shootings, both student and parent have become alarmingly concerned about

On April 16, 2007, one of the most tragic incidents in the United States occurred on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg, Virginia. Seung- Hui Cho, a senior at Virginia Tech ruthlessly murdered 32 people and wounded 17 others through the usage of firearms in two separate attacks. This incident is considered the deadliest shooting incident by a single gunman in the history of America. While people still mourn and pray for the victims, this shooting also led to many controversies. Till this day, Cho’s access to firearm and Virginia Tech’s security hazard remains to be controversial. The motive and cause of Cho’s action and what the school could have done in order to prevent this tragic incident will be addressed.

With the large number of shootings that have occurred in United States’ history one expected a pattern to exist for the shooters yet it seemed nonexistent. Many variables existed, almost 40 (Mongan,2007), making predicting when a school shooting would occur impossible. Even threats stating a shooting would occur were not valid signs of an upcoming shooting. Many threats originated from students “blowing off steam” and no intention existed to carry out the threat. The FBI created a list of possible ways to evaluate a threat but they caution the reader that not every threat resulted in violence(FBI).

During the month of January 2013, Carlton Berry was accused of opening fire at Lone Star College. He was accused of shooting two people before wounding himself in the leg. Even though it came to be known in the course of the investigation that it was really not Carlton Berry who was involved, but Trey Foster, the question arises as to whether guns should be allowed in colleges. This lone incidence that happened at Lone Star Community College reflects the April 16th, the year 2007 where there was a shooting on the campus of Virginia Polytechnic Institute along with State University. In this incidence, a student by the name Seung-hui opened fire on unsuspecting scholars killing approximately 32 people and wounding many others before he

Through my teaching experience I have found that school violence encompasses many forms such as verbal harassment, non-verbal harassment, cyber-bullying, intimidation and any act that devalues a student’s self-worth. According to Detroit Public Schools, “it is the intention of the District to provide as safe and nonviolent learning environment for its employees, students, parents, and visitors as is possible. To this end, the District strives to maintain an environment free of threats, harassment, intimidation, physical and verbal abuse, and coercion” (Detroit Public Schools, 2009). The purpose of this policy is create a safe environment where students are free from any tape of harassment. The policy goes on to state it is the staff's responsibility to, “be educated and aware of potential signs and signals of violent or threatening behavior in students”(Detroit Public Schools, 2009). In other words, it is necessary for the school staff to remain vigilant of these signs and address them as soon as appear. Based off the nature of the action the school will follow a course of discipline suited to the accused

On April 16th 2007 at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute, a student with psychological problems began a two hour killing spree that left 33 dead (Reader). The massacre that occurred at this school is now the worst recorded incident in the history of the United States and eclipses the University of Texas massacre of 1966. In the wake of tragedies like these, students, teachers and administrators propose more measures to make us feel safe on campus. But why weren't these measures in place before? School administrators and police have a responsibility to protect their students and faculty on campus, and these instances clearly shown a lack of fulfilling that responsibility. And yet several campus' refuse to allow law-abiding and

Over two hours Seung Hui Cho roamed the campus of Virginia Tech University murdering innocent students. Once again it took the shooter committing suicide for the violence to stop. The police were little help in pursuing the shooter and stopping the killings from occurring. In 2007 Cho killed 32 teachers and students making it the deadliest school shooting in the nation’s history. (Massacre at Virginia Tech leaves 32 dead) At 7:15 am Cho went into a dorm and killed a female and male student. He then went to his room sent a package and changed clothes before walking into a building full of classrooms. Armed with two handguns he locked and chained doors close and went room to room shooting and killing students. (Massacre at Virginia Tech leaves

In Troutdale, Oregon June 10, 2014 a 15-year-old High School freshman brought an assault rifle to school and shot 14-year-old freshman Emilio Hoffman. Two school resource officers, Nick Thompson and Kyle Harris, were armed security guards at the high school during the shooting. The school Resource Officers were able to respond as armed security before the shooter was able to fire additional rounds into classmates. This timely response should be required for all educational establishments that are prime targets for mentally disturbed gun owners (Barkoukis, Leah). According to a survey asking 100 LBCC student if they agree with campus security to be armed, 72% responded in favor of armed staff (Survey). Only 12% of students disagreed with

On February 7th, 2007 the most tragic United States mass shooting happened in history. 23 year old student, Cho picked up a Walther P-22 pistol and killed 32 people at Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg Virginia. This left the whole nation in shock leaving innocent students fearful , higher education administration astonished and families mourning the loss of their children. Cho was found guilty after submitting his own confession video to NBS news along with 28 gruesome photos and profane language over the murder of innocent students. As everyone in the nation mourned such a loss of university students, the question remains as to “why” this incident even occurred. Cho was arrested and immediately sent for additional investigation including

Imagine a scene of unimaginable terror: several college students are lined up against a wall and shot, sirens are blaring in the background, and people are seen crouching on floors in classrooms and dormitories in a futile attempt to escape the wrath of a crazed gunman, who also happens to be a fellow student. By mid-afternoon, even the sidewalks are stained with blood and the atmosphere is desolate and aberrantly quiet. Students gather in small groups, some crying while still others make an effort to console each other. Such was the scene on April 16th, 2007 on the campus of Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, Virginia when Seung-Hui Cho went on a mass killing spree. In slightly under three hours, Cho managed to gun down thirty-three students and faculty members, injuring seventeen others in the process, before finally turning the gun on himself. It has been described as the deadliest shooting rampage in American history.

Ever since day one, people have been developing and creating all sorts of new methods and machines to help better everyday life in one way or another. Who can forget the invention of the ever-wondrous telephone? And we can’t forget how innovative and life-changing computers have been. However, while all machines have their positive uses, there can also be many negatives depending on how one uses said machines, wiretapping in on phone conversations, using spyware to quietly survey every keystroke and click one makes, and many other methods of unwanted snooping have arisen. As a result, laws have been made to make sure these negative uses are not taken advantage of by anyone. But because of how often technology changes, how can it be

In the past decades there has been an increase of violence in the schools. This increase causes fear among students, teachers, parents, and all Americans. The deadliest act of school violence was the massacre at Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia, when a student opened fire and killed Thirty-two students and teachers while wounding seventeen. On April 16, 2007, Seung Hui Cho, opened fire on two students killing both of them. He then fled the building. Police responded to the first incident and determined it was an isolated homicide and that the gunman fled the state. Two hours later, Cho returned with two handguns and entered Norris hall which was filled with classrooms. He chained