10/2/2006
What’s going on with our Schools?
American Soldier says,
Is this the season of shootings at our Schools? Why does it seem that there is such a trend going on? Why can’t we have trained security guards at every school or a guard that floats from one School to another throughout the day. Someone who can be a first responder for our children. I fear if anyone were to be stupid enough to do that in my home town.
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It makes me wanna home school my kids.
Why can’t we train our teachers/principals and administrators in firearm saftey, and usage. Then permit them to carry on campus, in order to protect and defend our children???
What’s going on in our school’s? Geezee, hasen’t any one been watching our changing society since they took the salute to the flag and the prayer out of school? I was heavy into PTA in those day’s. thats when teachers unions started to complain that parents were interfearing to much and slowly started to get PTA’s out of the schools. AHH, now the teachers and their union had full control of the schools. I was there through this debockle. teachers no longer looked like teacher cause they wanted to be ‘’friendas'’ with the kids. So the started to dress like the kids. No shirt and tie for men, no nylons and dress for the women. How can you command respect from the kids when you look like one? [in the service you check out the stripes on the sleve] Slowly things were changing and untill some thing drastic happens, no one pays attention. Now they hew and cry is ‘’what wrong with our kids? Maybe we need to check on the professors who teach our teacher to be,,,,any one notice how liberal they are? Untill parents stand up like we use to do and DEMAND a better QUALITY of teachers we will continue to have problems. Money is not the answer, teacher testing and traing to command respect for self and others would be a great start…….Along with parents paying more attention as to who and what is taking the good Americ lifestyle we use to have. Yes, I’m old…but I have seen the important things in my country being taken away form the MAJORITY by the MINORITY, and WE have let them do it to us….
I like Chad’s view. Let the teachers be trained to use a firearm. As it stands now, you can not even get close to a school with a firearm; at least that is what the law states. Much good it did.
I graduated from Platte Canyon High School back in 1979…..
Yes, its scary, no question. I do home school my three kids (well, technically only 2 now, one is in college) but saftey wasn’t the reason I started 11 years ago. There is the pessimistic view that you can never predict or prevent the psycho’s from being where you are - I suppose the public library is as likely a target as a school…. However - it does seem like I’ve - at the very least - stacked the deck for safety, since there ARE firearms in our house, and all the kids know how to use them!
American Soldier - You are asking a crucial question. I hope the horrifying killings at the Amish school will cause many people to think about what we need to do make our children qnd ourselves safer. There are many angry people harboring grudges in our society. The reality is that there so many guns and so much ammunition available that they can take revege whenever they become enraged or delusional enough to do so. School children are very vulnerable, but so are the rest of us. I live in a city where the killings with firearms this year are almost double the number last year. More than 80% of the guns used in killings here can be traced to one gun dealer in a nearby city. For many years city officials there and the state legislature tried to regulate this gun dealer and prevent sales to people who were buying guns for criminals. Finally the evidence against this gun dealer was so overwhelming that his sales license was revoked. I hope that makes us safer, but there are already so many guns and so much ammunition available that it will certainly take years for a reduction in legal gun sales will make any difference. Incidently, I am a retired teacher. I would never have been willing to have a gun and ammunition in my classroom. There would be far too much danger of wounding or killing my own students. I wonder how many kindergarten orfirst grade teachers want to keep a loaded gun in their classroom. Recently, in one of my neighboring cities a three year old child found a loaded gun in a bedroom closet in his home. He had been given a water pistol and shown how to pull the trigger so he knew how to do that. He took the gun to the living room where his family was gathered, pointed the gun at his uncle, pulled the trigger and shot and killed his uncle. His uncle was the owner of the gun. This child is old enough to remember doing this. I wonder how it will affect his life. I am convinced we need to do much more to limit access to guns and ammunition. If there are people who think teachers should be armed then perhaps we should ask teachers if they think this is part of the solution.
Oh, my, Jana Lane. While I agree that arming teachers and administrators is not such a grand idea (not sure they would even want that responsibility - I wouldn’t as a teacher and I own guns) I absolutely positively DISAGREE with you on limiting access to guns and ammunition. No, I’m not a member of NRA. I’m not a member of any political party. I am an AMERICAN. I vote, I speak up, I support my military and I LOVE my country. I think Caneholder is more on target.
I have friends who are teachers. There are few forms of discipline they are allowed to use yet the students can push them around, up against the wall in the hallway, curse them, etc. and the teacher cannot do anything for fear of reprisal and being sued. The core of the matter is our society and the breakdown of the family unit. Oh, it’s not so much about the suit and tie and nylons as much as it is about the lack of respect and family values.
I’m NOT saying everyone should subscribe to MY family values but at least having them would be a start. Just yesterday I was standing in the local post office. A mom (happened to be caucasian but that’s really not the point) was at the window being waited on. She had 2 daughters and a son with her who appeared to be from about 4 to 9 years of age. They were fighting, hitting, running into people (including me), cursing, yelling, etc. The mom only once turned and very quietly and sheepishly asked them to be quiet. They did not heed her at all. When the oldest girl blatantly ran in to me I asked her to stop. The mother whirled around and told me NOT TO TALK TO HER CHILD LIKE THAT. What? I didn’t yell. I didn’t touch the child. I simply asked her NOT TO RUN INTO ME AGAIN and the mother was furious - red in the face.
No matter where I go in public anymore I find that the majority of children are telling their parents what to do. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Nope, I don’t see guns as the problem so much as a lack of respect, a lack of discipline and a total breakdown of society. Our forefathers always had guns for hunting and protection. Murder wasn’t an issue back then was it? Often the gun was left either leaning in a corner or next to the door. Children respected their father when he told them NOT to touch it and that was that!
I have to agree with you Leta on the fact of children are telling thier parents what to do. More and more kids are walking all over mom and dad. It’s a sad sight when you go to the park with your 3 year old and watch as she just about gets kicked in the face as she gets off the slide b/c mom or dad is busy talking to a friend or on the cell phone. I find myself telling children at the park that these things are not safe, for them or others. And they look at me like i’ve lost my mind.
I am glad the our children have a parent who is in the military and that theyunderstand what structure and displine are. We always get comments on how well our 4 children behave in public. They understand that they are children. They may, as kids do, question us at times. Or whine about doing chores, but they do it. They have that respect for adults, as well as our family, which I feel alot of children do not.
I am not one to advocate guns in any way what so ever. But hubby has a few in the house. He has shown our boys how to use the BB gun, and only when he is with them. He has fully explained to them that they are not toys and can be very dangerous. And with him having been in Iraq they have that basic understanding as it is.
Some say it’s the parents not being involved enough. Some say they saw the signs that Joe Snuffy was not doing OK and never thought they would do anything like that. I’m not going to try and ponder it. I am just going to teach my children the best I can what is right and wrong, nuture them, and love them no matter what they go through in life. It’s not easy and it is certainly not getting easier.
Many parents want to be a friend, not a parent. They don’t want the responsibility in training and raising the kid. They were more than agreeable in making one, but when the time comes, many parents don’t know what to do. They have no role models to follow anymore.
I think that all need to be trained on the safety of firearms. The NRA Eddie Eagle is a tremendous training tool, if only applied.
My wife is a teacher, and she is surprised at the number of kids who have no control. If the school/administration tries to do something, then the law suits start to fly. My wife has been threatened, but the school district did nothing.
Conceal Carry does work. It does lower crime where ever it is applied. But there are those who want to get rid of the method (in this case, guns; but in England it is now knives, in Poland it is baseball bats), but these same people do not want to look at the root causes of all this killing. Then the finger gets pointed back at them. It is easier to blame others than to examine their own part in the problem.
Having just gone through the required 12 years of schooling with my daughter and having been raised by a gun collector and darn good shot myself, I see it more of a parenting problem - or the lack of. I couldn’t believe the way so many kids showed no respect for their parents and their parents taking it and trying to “reason” with them. No having the kids take responsibility for their behavior.
As someone said (maybe a bumper sticker…) “It doesn’t take a village to raise a child, it takes parents.”
If there were no guns, I’m sure the murderers would have used knives - or baseball bats - they were out to kill.
I certainly agree that parents have to give children consistent and clear guidance about behavior - and, they have to SET AN EXAMPLE. I wonder how more effective parental guidence would have avoided the Amish school shootings. Theman who shot the children had no criminal record, and his family seemed completely unaware that he had molested younger relatives when he was about 12 years old. He was able to gather an arsenal of guns and ammunition in a time when he was aware that he felt unresolved grief and anger over the death of his newborn child and he had begun to have dreams about molesting young girls. I don’t understand how his legal his right to buy guns legally helped him or anyone else.
You may be interested in a recently issued by the U.S. Education Department Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools. Bill Modzeleski, who heads that office, reported that the Bush administration has repeatedly recommended eliminating funding for a federal grant to prevent school violence. Congress has continued to fund it at reduced amounts. Funding was $439.2 million in 2001 but has fallen to W346 milllion this year with $310 million recommended for 2007. More than half the school districts receive $10,000 or less. I wonder if more funding for efforts in local districts might make a difference.
Thats what happens when we have these gun free school zones and this zero tollerence policy we get such nasty things its time to repeal the gun fre school laws and end zero tollerence and allow parents to home school their kids
Spurwing plover - What is there to prevent parents from homeschooling their kids? Also, if you don’t want a zero tolerance policy for carrying guns in schools, who would you like to have carrying guns? Administrators? Students? Teachers?
Guns for teachers? Give me a break! It’s the american way that has caused all the killings to begin with, so lets add fuel to the fire and overlook the obvious and give guns to the principles and guidance councellors why don’t you!?? Think about it.
I’m pretty sure it’s the Jihad way that has caused all of the killings, you ignorant tool. How about doing a little basic thinking for yourself instead of reguritating all the leftists propaganda that you’ve been fed and believed without question.
The gun grabbers will have a field day with these shootings as they try to scare the heck out of citizens while they try to disarm them.
Most of the people who are being considered as frontrunners for President in 2008 are gun-control folks to one degree or another.
In Iowa, according to the LA Times, Republican John Cox is warning gunowners about liberal-left gun grabbers and their judges. He’s already airing TV spots (www.cox2008.com/video).
Jana Lane, why does everyone think funding will solve problems?
How much money does it take to lay down the law to children, whether you’re a teacher, parent, or neighbor??? $0. How much does it cost to demand respect from children? $0. How much money does it take to lock all doors in the school, leaving only one designated door, always locked, for visitors to enter and exit during school hours? $0. Ok, it will take a few hundred dollars to put a buzzer and surveillance camera by the door, but an already paid school staff member won’t have to get paid extra to be the gate keeper (though you will have to designate someone with common sense). Is a police guard really sufficient? Spend a small portion of the police’s salary and get a hum dinger surveillance system for the school grounds. The gate keeper will have those images right on the desk top monitor and they can observe and react to suspicious lurkers. I can assure this is effective because we do this kind of security work, and we stess that all staff must be on guard always. A guard can only be at one place at a time to observe, and who says he will be at the right place at the right time?
Gun control won’t do anything but prevent law abiding citizens from owning guns, leaving them more vulnerable. Criminals, though, will always get them. Always. Will crazies get guns? Yes. Or maybe knives, baseball bats, tire irons, bricks (happened here) or anything else they can use to inflict harm. My husband has a CCW permit. Three times trouble came to call, three times he pulled back his jacket, and three times trouble said ‘Hey man, it’s all cool!’ and walked away. The lack of gun control might have saved his life.
It comes down to involved parents (and teachers during school hours actually being allowed to) instilling morals, values, and respect in our children. Say NO when it needs to be said, and punish children when they need it. Have some guts! As they grow to be adults, hopefully those values will remain, and the future just might be a lot brighter for all of us.
I too home school my children now. I was fed up with the lack of discipline and inability of the staff to control physical and verbal abuse among the students, and I withdrew them from school. (hehe…they locked the main entry doors to the school, yet the teachers left their exterior classroom doors open.
My kids weren’t safe as far as I was concerned on any count ) My children get an “old fashion” education filled with reading, writing, lots of history, morals and values etc. As you said soldierswife, I do my best to love, nurture and teach my children the right way to go, and I pray that it is good enough.
Caty,
I do like the point of locking school doors and leaving one entrance. Our school, at least the elementary, is locked all the way around. You may enter the forier but have to call the office placed there in order to get in. There is a window so the person at the desk can see you. Then you have to walk past the office to enter the rest of the school. No extra money in that saftey measure. And on top of it, the poilce go to each of the schools everyday.
We may not live in large city but our children also pratcie lockdowns. Now, trying to explain what this is to my children is sometimes sad but I have done my best to do so. And i hope to God they never have to put it to actual use. But they understand it’s a saftey measure. Even if they don’t fully understand why someone would want to come into the shcool and harm others.
Caty,
Thank you for your comments. I’ve been mulling over some of the comments Jane Lynn left of 4 October but just couldn’t seem to find the right way to express what you did.
I will add this - WHEN will we as Americans learn that it is NOT the DUTY of our government to bail us out of EVERYTHING financially? Everyone thinks that the government on some level - local, state, federal can throw money down and solve any problem. ARGH! Money cannot and will not “buy us out” of many of the messes we have gotten ourselves into.
My wife teaches in a 1600 student high school in Texas. She has a Texas CHL and is a state licensed CHL instructor. The fire marshall will not allow any doors to be locked and in reality one door is not enough for 1600 students to enter and exit through. The school attorney (I’m sure he voted for Clinton) has created a victim zone with the employee policy. School employees cannot even have pepper spray on school grounds and they are forced to park on school property. Some employees drive 60 miles to work and they are thus dis-armed and vulnerable going to and from work. I think I am right in that federal law allows you to carry on school grounds with a CCW. Texas law does allow a CCW to carry on the school grounds as long as there is no school sponsered activity taking place in close proximity. Anyone with a Texas CCW (or CHL in TX lingo) may carry in a school building proper with written permission. There is one small school in the area that is considering allowing licensed and selected teachers and administrators to do so. Israel used to have attacks in their schools. They armed their teachers and they haven’t had one attack since. Why can’t liberals see by examples of what works and what dowsn’t?
Im kinda in a rush so I have not read all of the above, but Wisconsin state Rep. Frank Lasee is advocating for propperly trained, screened, etc faculty to carry. The article below is rather negative but I listened to a radio interview with him and I think its a pretty good idea. Keep in mind that it isn’t giving everyone a gun, its voluntary and they need to be trained properly and given background checks and things like that.
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/15142930/
We went through this in our workplace.
The company response was that they wanted to arm the security guards.
The guards refused and were terminated, the next group of guards refused and were terminated, the company then gave up and listened to why the guards refused.
Nobody has to bring a gun it, all they have to do is entry and then take the gun from the guards.
It makes an environment less safe, not more.
Why is it when ever something like this happens everyone cries for more gun control? If the law against MURDER doesn’t stop these people why would adding asinine gun laws do anything? Every city in the U.S. that has overbearing gun laws has on average a higher violent crime rate than comparable cities with less gun restriction.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that criminals are afraid of areas where citizens are allowed to protect themselves. Take a look at how well D.C.’s gun free zone is working out. The best thing is the average person doesn’t even have the right to defend themselves in that hell hole.
Caty is 100% right. Gun control only hurts law abiding citizens period.
There are crazy people in this world. And sometimes crazy people will do very bad things. Laws will do nothing to stop them…
Though the recent Colorado and Amish shootings don’t fit the profile, I’ve read 80% of school shooting are because of bullying and other demeaning treatment of teenagers. A much more significant, very large number of teen suicides are due to this as well.
Interestingly, much of the bullying is attributed to atheletes. Perhaps its the abberant behavior of coddled pro atheletes daily visible in the news, poured down to the lowest levels of atheletics in schools that is to blame. So really, its the NFL thats too blame…so ban the NFL!
Getting more serious: dealing with bullying behavior may be the place to work on the school shooting problem. More (trained) parents, not security guards, need to have their feet on the ground inside the schools to act as pervasive eyes-and-ears for the administration watching for such behavior. I thought more of this was going to happen after Columbine but obviously didn’t.
Reefdiver,
Back when my kids were enrolled in school, I was at school one afternoon. My son said that one of the bully kids stole something from him. I tried to politely confront the child. He was disrespectful, indignant, rude, defiant, and so on. The teacher tried to get the child to cooperate to no avail. Finally, the child tried to push past me. I cupped my hand behind his upper arm to lead him to the principal’s office, since he refused to go on his own. Long story short, the mother filed a police report because I touched her son!!! And this was the very kid (5th gr.) who hit my 1st grader on the head with a baseball bat more than once, and who hit my 5th grader daily, and said mom knew it!! The principal’s response? Talk….let’s talk this out. Let’s discuss how this kind of behavior makes others feel.
(BTW, it’s been my experience that, for the most part, bully kids have bully parents.)
At their previous school, several parents would occasionally sit in their cars in the parking lot, sometimes with video cameras mind you, to watch what was going on on the playground. One mom observed one kid jump kick another in the chest and knock him down. She reported it and not a damn thing was done. I’ll spare the details.
Until schools have a kick a$$ and take names policy initially to get behavior under control…until schools make it clear that verbal and physical harrassment will NOT be tolerated….and until schools take decisive action against kids who are abusive, all the parents in the world won’t help. The kids know they have the upper hand. They know no one is going to kick their butt if they don’t behave themselves. They know how and where they can get their ‘licks’ in so adults won’t see it.
Now, don’t read my comments and say “she is suggesting bully behavior herself!” I am using those words as a figure of speech. The point is, we need to go back to the days when bad behavior was actually dealt with, and dealt with firmly.
Getting more serious: dealing with bullying behavior may be the place to work on the school shooting problem.
I have to agree with the above. I don’t know if that means having parents in the school, but I’ve had my share of dealings with a school for my 5 year old son… Long story short, the school refused to address the issue so I had to have my son take care of it himself.
It wasn’t the highroad like we started with, but the bullying stoped…
Caty - If another child hit your child with a baseball ba t that is a police matter and should be reported regardless of the age of the child or the location of the assault. As far as the government bailing out citizens with money is concerned, I’m ready for it. Lets cut out all agricultural subsidies, and all cost plus defense contracts. Other contractors have to estimate the costs of building something, a bridge or a building, and then fulfill their contract. Contractors for military projects should do that, too.
I am a student in school still and I think we should have some body in the building that has the experience to save us kids. We are the future and we do need the protecttion and the support. I knopw we are still in war and they need evrybody they can get but i think us kids need some body too. I know the socity is very diferent from back then because some parents don’t give a hoot what their children are doing. Please think this over before it gets worse.
Our society accepts solving problems with violence.
Deja Vu looks pretty interesting. Kilmer and Denzel are some of my favorite actors.
I believe that if my school had security guards, students and teachers would become anxious and nervous. The anxiety would effect their learning resulting in students not wanting to be in school. Some students would also not feel safe in school, which is a horrible idea because school is a place where students should feel comfortable and protected.
This remids me of “lockdown” drills we have at school to prepare for an incident that could occur. I can;t imagine why somebody would think of coming into a school and killing innocent kids, but it’s definitely something we need to be aware of these days. I agree that there should be extra security in schools, and that things like video cameras could help to prevent something like this.
As a student, I think that if my school had security guards, it would scare a lot of people. I think that people would not feel safe in school having security guards and it be a distraction that would disrupt the learning process. I also think that my school does not need security guards, and it is unlikely that they would be able to do much in a situation unless you had a lot of them stationed at each school.
If I had security guards watching my school, I am sure both my peers and the faculty would become more apprehensive, as the threat of danger would become real. Though they may scare off those who may be planning to kill those in the school, these people are probably too desperate to regard the “threat” of justice, and if the security guard is in a different portion of the school, there would not be much they could do. As a result everybody in the school would be fearful as a result of the guards presence, and their presence may not be able to be effective in the event of a shooting anyway.
I heard it said the Police, Military, those who protect us, are like sheep dogs. The sheep are afraid of the sheep dog because he has fangs (weapons) and power (courage ) to confront the enemy, but the sheep dog makes the sheep feel most unconfortable because it reminds the sheep of the wolf.
When as a people we accept the need for the Sheep Dogs, and allow them to protect us, (drop the leash of litigation, banish the falshood of tolerance, trash correctness), allowing the Sheep Dog to be restrained only by our Constitution, then and only then will we sheep eat from secure and safe pastures.
As a student, I feel that having security guards at the school would make students, parents, and faculty more anxious and it would make a possibilty of a threat a reality. School is supposed to be a safe place for students, but with all these crazy people out there these days, you never know what’s going to happen, which is why I can see why some people might want guard in schools. They might make the building safer, but some students would feel the anxiety of the situation and imagine all the “what ifs” (ig what if a gunman really came to our school, would the guards be affective?) Having guards at schools has both pros and cons, and each school should come up with a solution to deal with this situation.
I think that if there was a security guard in my school i would feel much safer and it could prevent violent incidents from occurring. School should be safe, and people do crazy things for the worst reasons, so I would hope that preventative measures would be taken an that everyone could feel safe at school.
I completely agree with your statement regarding security guards. As a student, when I see the stories of the shootings on the news, I get scared because I think, “There is absoluteley nothing stopping that from happening to me.” If every school in the country had trained security guards, both students and parents would feel safer.
As a high school student, I completely agree with your take on school shootings and security guards. It is appaling and very scary to hear about school violence happening all over the country and wonder if such a terrible ordeal would happen at my school. And Why not? There are very few security measures taken to prevent such violence. At my school, it has gotten to the point where bomb threats have been a common occurence every once in a while, often students even call them in simply because they want to get out of a certain class or test that day! Its ridiculous! That is why I think that trained security guards would be an effective way of not only making schools safer, but making students feel more at ease going to school each day.
I believe that security in our schools is completely necessary. Although security guards may make students and teachers anxious, I think it is a necessary measure to further protect ourselves. I know that I would feel more safe as a student, and I am sure that my fellow classmates feel the same way. If security guards were to be placed in schools, than the risk of violence will be stongly detered.
I agree that the risk of shootings or terrorists in schools needs to be dealt with. I think that security guards could be effective. If students and teachers did not become anxious because of this, the idea could work. Another problem that could come up is how to track who is in the school building. In my school its is onething to keep track of students, but other people can get into the school. Therefore, under the right circumstances, a securiy guard could be effective.
Although I do agree with you that the number of school shootings in this country has become ridiculous, I don’t think that security guards are the best solution to this problem. For one, not every school district could pay for their salary. Some schools can’t even afford basic things, like textbooks or computers. Second, aside from the occasional crazy man (like the recent shooter in the Amish schoolhouse), the shooters are usually the children themselves, some student who feels rejected by his or her peers, decides he hates his life and retaliates in a violent way. How could a security guard stop a student from entering their own school? Are you suggesting that metal detectors should be built into all the doors? I think a better way to resolve this problem is to enforce strict gun laws, and for someone to tell the students of America “Hey. High school is going to suck. You’re not going to be friends with everyone, so deal with it”
I agree that there is a trend going on, and that there has been more school shootings recently. I think the school’s staff should be trained to act as security guards, instead of actually hiring one, to make the students feel more comfortable. However, in some cases there have been shootings by the students themselves, and not an outsider. I believe if the staff were more in touch with their students that this could be further prevented. Also, a video camera near the entryways of schools, wouldn’t hurt, an would add to the students’ and faculty’s sense of security.
This is a frightening trend and I believe actions should take place to prevent them. Because it would be costing a lot to the school or whoever to have a trained guard stationed at every school I think its a great idea to have a guard patrolling in and out of schools within his own designated area. His presence on campus would intimidate and give one more reason to any possible attackers not to attack. Having this guard only around only some of the time would also take away from any students uneasiness.
I think that’s a great idea about having some sort of guard at the schools to make sure that everything is ok. This would be very hard though, checking through everyone’s bags everyday etc. What has happened recently is really disturbing and horrible
, and there should be some way to prevent this in the future.
Personally, as a student this is issue is very close to home. It has become easier for kids to obtain weapons. This could happen to any school. However I dont think arming teachers would do any good. Though a security guard could be effective. I have friends who go to schools in which they must pass through a metal detector to enter. This is a simple solution to the issue at hand.
Hi, i’m a student and I strongly agree with having a security guard at my school. Even though a security guard would strike more fear in the students, staff, and parents, I beleive strongly that in the end, it will make everything safer. In the event of a horrible situation, the security guard would be trained and ready to stop and prevent anything from happenning.
Hi, i’m a student and I feel that having a security guard at my school would have both positive and negativ effects. It would be positive because if there were an incident where there was a shooting, we would have a security guard to protect us and deal with the situation at hand. I also feel that it would have a negative impact on the school because kids would feel uptight and uncomfortbale. I feel that even if we have a security guard that faculty should be trained and prepared in case of a situation such as a school shooting.
As a student, it is frightening to think that we are at the mercy of anyone who feels like terrorizing our schools. But I guess shootings can happen anywhere, not just schools. I do not agree that a security guard will solve any problems in our schools. Even though I am not threatened by any shootings in our schools, what could a couple of gaurds do about that? A high school can be a big place and it is hard to cover with just a couple of people. I think our town’s police department would be just as effective as school guards. Also, I’m sure after the guards realize that it is unlikely to be any danger in schools, they will begin to slack off. Armed guards can be very frightening in a school. School is supposed to be a safe place where kids have freedom to act like kids and I think that in some respects, guards could dampen that freedom. Despite this, I would not have a problem if guards were put in bigger schools that would be a bigger threat for terrorism.
hello! i am a high school student in the US. recently in health class, we mentioned the dramatic increase in school-related violence. apparantly, the number of incidents sky-rocketed by the hundreds if not the thousands. personally, i think that everyone is angry or hurt from all that they’re dealing with. american teenagers in today’s society are overwhelmed whether it’s because of stresses from the media, schoolwork, relationships, even ambitions and worry about their future. academic competition to get into premium schools and the difficulty level of the SATs are all going up. not to mention the break-down of the basic family unit- divorces, suicides, you name it. furthermore, society sends mixed messages. there are ads that encourage drinking, partying, thinness, and the best of designer materials. teenagers, still insecure, are influenced heavily by these signals to fit in. and yet, parents may tell them what not to do, the anti-drug ads tell them what to do, hypocrites are everywhere, and we are confused. considering all these factors, it is no surprise that abuse is happening on campus- emotional, verbal, mental, sexual, physical.
If schools choose to use metal detectors and security guards, I think the government should allot more money to the schools. As stated before, many schools have trouble supplying their students with basic supplies such as textbooks and such. It’s ludicrous to think that schools should pay for something that may happen versus something they absolutely need. However, as I live close to NYC, I know that many of the inner city schools spend more time and money keeping their schools safe and their students in line that there really isn’t much teaching going on.
It’s also the government’s responsibility to the keep the children safe. Placing guns in schools, I think, would actually make things worse. The mentally or emotionally disturbed student who chooses to perpetrate most of these actions no longer has to actually bring a weapon to school. He or she can choose to steal one from the security guards (if this suggested measure was the one implemented) who might be on break or just had a lapse in attention, or if the teachers were given guns, he or she may choose to take the teachers. Even if they were locked inside desks, most of these standard locks are easily picked. If a student has the audacity to be willing to bring a gun to school, he or she would probably not hesitate in picking a lock.
Further, with the weapon closer to the “source” of the violence, the bullies, the cliques, and the social pressures, the perpetrater doesn’t even have to go home and either find his or her parent’s/other relative’s gun, or gain access to one through another measure. He or she has it right before him or her. The time needed to gain access to a firearm is significantly decreased and therefore, the time available for the student to “cool down” is decreased. What a student wants to do in the heat of a moment versus what he or she would do the next would be completely different. Putting guns on campus is not, in my opinion, a good idea. However, using metal detectors might be a good solution, but there’s always the arguement of student’s privacy rights.
However, what really needs to be done is to try and find the source of the problem. Violence does not exist in a vacuum. There’s always a reason for it whether others understand the reason or not.
As a student, I agree with the idea that I would feel safer with trained security guards at my school. Considering all the school shootings that have occured recently, who’s to say “That will never happen to me?” Because, after all, noone is immune to it. Violence is everywhere and its entirely possible that it could happen to you. At this point, its become ridiculous because my school gets bomb threats so often by kids calling into school with a threat just so that they can get out of class! Therefore, I think having security guards at school would lower the number of these absurd bomb threats and instead focus on real violence.
As a student in high school, i don’t think that having security guards on every floor or even in every room will help at all. i probably won’t be able to concentrate on my schoolwork. THe security guards will keep me nervous and anzious 24/7. Especially where I live, we have never had a school shooting but many prank bomb threats. I mean,yes, i would feel safer, but i’d get so nervous i probably might not be able to go to school with all the intensity.
I think this is a perfect example of such horrible tragedies being used as an excuse to limit our rights. Being a highschool student myself, I know that heightened security in schools would only create an aura of fear and distrust; by searching every student and suspecting them of the worst only makes creates suspects out of the incident and ultimately I feel that students, if resourceful, could get past even the strictest of security. Disregarding the cost of implementing such security, and the negative impact the loss of funds would have on students’ education, I feel that security would do very little to stop the problem.
As for training teachers and staff in firearms use, there could not be a worse idea. This only increases the availability of guns, and instead of having to steal a gun from home, it is available right in front of every student of every day. And with a gun, what is the teacher supposed to do? By shooting there own student, we really aren’t solving anything, people are stilling dying, in school, looking down the barrel of the gun. The real problem here is the accessibility of guns, and instead of increasing the number of guns available, they should be decreased. While people may claim that they need guns for their “protection,” the fact is that guns do what they’re designed to do, which is kill, and are responsible for countless more lives than they have saved.
Of course, there must be a deeper route to the problem; even with a gun right in front of me I, and most others, would not be inclined to kill. To say that the problem lies in a breakdown of family values is ludicrous; it is just another way for religious family morals to be foced upon Americans, where the real problem is that we live in a world and society that revolves around war, violence, and suffering. Turn on the news for but 5 minutes, and you will be bombarded with images of death and destruction from around the world. We in America do not live in a bubble, such violence will make its way here too, and only by bringing an end to such suffering can we hope to completely rid ourselves of these horrible acts of violence and disregard for humanity. I recognize the seaming impossibility of “world peace,” but this is a goal that all can strive to achieve, and in the meantime we must set examples for children that violence is condemned, not condoned, and to take another’s life is the ultimate break from humanity and what we as a people stand for.
As a student, I would really not like having security guards at my school. Even though they would be there for our safety, I would feel uncomfortable and like I was always being watched. Also if one of my teachers had access to a gun, I would freak out. I think violence and fweapons are best left outside school grounds.
As a student, I would really hate to have secuirty guards. I think having security guards would just scare students and staff into believing there was a serious problem. I wouldn’t want to have the feeling of always being watched either.
Personally, I believe that yes, recent events indicate the need for heightened security in schools. Security guards, cameras, or metal detectors would no doubt make schools safer places, but they may also come with added concern and nervousness. Additionally, I strongly believe that teachers should not be trained to use weapons. Their job is to TEACH students, not to frighten them.
However, I also have to wonder if the opinions of the students, teachers, and the other people who work in the schools every day have been taken into consideration. It seems to me that the people that are being influenced the most by these types of decisions should be able to express their feelings. Here all these students are posting their ideas on a blog when they should be able to express them to someone in a position to listen. However, I find it doubtful that the government would listen to a bunch of kids. Perhaps if they realized that we have valid concerns and opinons instead of just doing what they think is best for us students would feel more comfortable.
As for the ideas of the origins of the students’ feelings that caused them to bring weapons to school in the first place, I have this to say: Look at the way our world is today. Children are influenced by everything around them. What kind of example is our country setting? And while it is true that there are many reasons a student might feel compelled to take the lives of others, perhaps they are having family problems or trouble with other people either in school or outside of school, they should not be dismissed as “angry children” it could happen to anyone. Please, adults…pay attention to the children in your lives…listen to them…you might learn something.
I’d like to begin by saying that I most certainly agree that school shootings have become a frightening trend throughout our nation. I would not have any idea of what to do if such a shooting occured in my own school, which I always have considered to be safe. However, recently, we have been having several bomb threats per year. The students here have begun to take them merely as a chance to miss a few classes. While it is highly unlikely that there will ever be a bomb, or a school shooting for that matter, I agree that steps should be taken to prevent such tragedies. However, I believe that having trained guards stationed at each school might be intimidating, and make students feel more nervous. In addition, in the case that there was a shooting, it is highly likely that damage would be done before the guard could do anything. Also, I do not know where training teachers to use guns became an idea, but I feel that students could feel very nervous knowing that their teacher has a gun in his/her possession. I am not sure what the best method would be in order to prevent tragedies from occuring at schools, but I feel that it should be looked into so that we can all live feeling just that much safer.
Hi, I’m a student which is why i feel a sort of connection to this post. It is very scary to think that kids can actually do something like shooting other kids inside a school. I think, however, it is a little extreme to expect there to be a trained security guard in every school. I think it would also make everyone in the school more anxious/nervous, and it would definitely interfere with the concentration of the students in class.
Gun violence in our nation’s schools is some scary shit, but I don’t think armed security gaurds and teachers are practical solutions to this problem. As many have already said, having security gaurds in our schools would make teachers and students anxious and nervous, and would interfere with the teaching experience. Paying these security gaurds wouldn’t be cheap, and would take money that could be used for educational supplies and materials, such as textbooks, away from the schools’ budgets. We must find a solution to the gun-violence problem, but arming security gaurds and teachers isn’t a feasible, practical one.
JJ has a point, i have had 3 friends leave highschool to be taught at home, and when i talked to them it seemed the main reason was either
drugs in our school or fear of shootings. i personaly dont understand how you justify shooting inocent people you dont even know, just because you have a problem.