Strategies
Although it will be very hard to determine when and if a school shooting will occur, therefore, many schools and districts have begun using techniques to help deter the violence and lessen death rates. Today there are many deterrents to stopping or reducing school shootings as schools have a responsibility to protect the physical and psychologically well-being of their students and staff (Guidance From the National Association of School Psychologists, 2010) Despite the widely spread recognition and fear that comes from violence in schools, evidence indicates that schools are among the safest place for children, compared to their homes and neighborhood environments. According to a 2006 national survey by the
Centers for Disease
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Control and Prevention, approximately 95 percent of school districts had a comprehensive plan to address crisis preparedness, response and recovery (Schuster, Unknown). The 1999 shootings at Columbine High School ushered in heightened attention to the need for schools and law enforcement to be better prepared to respond to armed assailant situations. Subsequently, schools focused primarily on lockdown practices, while law enforcement focused on improving tactics to find and stop the assailant as quickly as possible.
In 2013, the U.S. Department of Education recommended expanding the lockdown-only approach for schools (i.e., confining students and staff to their rooms) to an options-based approach that allows school staff to make more independent decisions about how to protect their students depending on evolving circumstances (e.g., evacuate the building rather than stay locked in a classroom). These approaches include adapting the “Run, Hide, Fight” model that was originally developed for adults in response to workplace violence. This expansion has spurred a range of approaches to armed assailant training and an increase in the number of school districts conducting drills with varying degrees of intensity and involvement of school staff and students. In some instances, drills are conducted with insufficient consideration of the potential psychological impact or appropriateness of a particular drill based on the developmental level or psychological risk factors of participants. Many schools have begun “Active Shooter Drills.” To do this, schools must first create school safety teams that should include teachers, nurses, security personnel and local
law enforcement. Lockdowns have been the standard approach for the school response to threatening situations for nearly two decades. Lockdowns involve locking the door, moving students out of sight, and requiring students to remain quiet within the room. Lockdowns should continue to be included in any options- based approach to active assailant training. According to a 2006 national survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 95 percent of school districts had a comprehensive plan to address crisis preparedness, response and recovery. Of these districts, about 82 percent provided funding for training or offered training on the plan to faculty and staff during the two preceding years. As for individual schools, 97 percent had a crisis preparedness, response and recovery plan, and among these schools, 87 percent provided training on the plan to faculty and staff (Schuster, Unknown).
In this article Emmett Tyrell informs us about gun violence in schools and what the NRA has proposed to stop the gun violence, and mass shootings across America. While the gun control debate rages, many schools have become war zones, and all school zones are vulnerable. The National Rifle Association's has come up with a 225-page report contains dozens of recommendations to improve safety in our nation’s schools. The NRA’s National School Shield program will train and enable school personnel to carry firearms to protect our nation’s children.
It is a sad time in American history when one can easily recount recent school shootings in their own area. This ease stems from a sharp increase in the number of firearms brought into elementary and middle schools across the country, with an intense focus on the issue beginning after the shooting of 20 children from Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut. Most school shooters are male, white, and often upper middle class. They are also more, often than not, under some type of mental stress that is causing them to create this type of violence in our communities. In fact, many school shooters are never suspected of doing any harm to their peers and teachers until it is much too late.
Preventing School Shootings From 1980’s till now, there are has been many school shootings. Many researchers have made many hypotheses as to why these occur. The most tragic shooting took place in Sandy Hook Elementary. 2.
School shootings are the leading death by a fire arm in the United States. What motivates these people to want to kill others? Acts of violence at schools is not a new thing. School shootings date back to the 18th century. However, school shootings are growing more common in this day in age. What motivates these people to want to kill others? With social networks more and more people are being bullied, which results in more kids snapping and shooting up their school. Bullying isn’t the only reason for school shooting, now smart kids are snapping under the pressure of unrealistic standards set for them by their honors teachers. In high school teens get the choice to take honors classes, or regular classes. The biggest difference in these classes
Although most security measures passively make schools safer, it is not nearly enough to prevent an individual who intends on creating mass violence from completing his or her task. State representatives, national organizations, school staff, and parents need to come together to figure out the most reliable ways to prevent an active shooter situation from occurring in their schools. One solution that has been active is many schools have partnered with local law enforcement agencies to provide a police officers to patrol school grounds....
There are many different types of school violence. The one that gets the most public attention is school shootings. The term school shooting is basically defined as an act where a student, school staff member, or intruder from the outside commits an act on the school campus. One of the most well known school shootings took place at Columbine High School near Littleton, Colorado. On a Tuesday April 20,1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, students at Columbine High School, took the lives of thirteen other students before taking the lives of their own. When we think of events like this, we have many questions that go through our mind. Thoughts like why did this happen, could it have been prevented, and how did impact the individuals involved just to name a few. There are probably several more thoughts that go through the minds of a nation when we hear about traumatic evens such as a school shooting.
Mass shootings have become a common occurrence in the United States society and have brought our society's safety debate to the attention of American politics. Both sides of the debate agree that we need more safety precautions but neither side can officially agree on what is to be done. What can we do about the raging number of mass shootings? There is no definite solution for mass shootings but there are precautions the United States can take to try to overcome the overwhelming number of mass shootings occurring. Gun Control is a major topic in the debate of how we can keep our society safer but how is what remains a mystery but we can start with altering the second amendment, and having stronger gun laws and background checks.
In recent years, tragedies have been visited upon schools across the country. From Kentucky to Oregon to Colorado, the notion of schools as safe havens has been shattered by the sound of gunfire. These acts are not limited to any geographic regions or family backgrounds, nor do they have a single catalyst. Those who have committed such heinous acts have done so for different reasons, at different times, in different schools. But these acts of school violence have at least one thing in common- they have spurred all of us to take a look at what can be done to better protect children and teachers at school. Protecting our children is not simply a matter of public policy. It is a matter of strengthening basic values, of teaching children right from wrong, of instilling in them respect for others. We each have a responsibility to work to end youth violence and to keep schools safe for children and for those who teach them. Youth violence in many schools has reached universal proportions. It is not only happening in our high schools, it has also made its way into our elementary and middle schools. Everyone seems to have a different perspective on why there is such a problem with school safety. Some say it is the parents’ fault, some say it is the media, and others blame the schools. Yet, the question still remains. What can be done to make schools safer for the children and staff? One thing we need to do is learn to listen to our children and observe their behavior. According ...
Weiler & Armenta (2014) conducted a survey of principals collecting data on arming school personnel. One question was to list advantages of arming teachers. It was noted the knowledge of teachers being armed may be a deterrent. An intruder may be bolder in his moves and actions thinking only the people who will be armed are the law enforcement officers. However, when the knowledge that teachers are armed is widely known, the would-be shooter may not act upon his plan knowing return fire will be
In the United States there have been 142 school shootings since 2013. In Australia there has never been a school shooting. “A school shooting is a form of mass shooting involving a gun attack on an educational institution, such as a school or university”(Wikipedia). According to the United States Secret Service, a school shooting is where the school is purposely planned and selected as the location for the attack. A school shooting may occur between any individual, student, instructor, administrator and staff employed institution (Sinnamon, 2016). There is no one profile to describe a shooter but almost all attackers are students at the school. School shootings occur when anyone enters a campus and begins firing weapons such as a rifle, shotgun
“Humanity has the stars in its future, and that future is too important to be lost under the burden of juvenile folly and ignorant superstition.”- Issac Asimov. Most people are cautious that the brains of teenagers are not fully developed yet, that is why juveniles are careless about the consequences of their crime. It is also why adolescents should be treated and tried differently than adults in the justice system. A decision was made in 2005; the Supreme Court has held juveniles under 18 who commits crimes cannot be sentenced to death or to life without parole. Judges feel that they are less culpable and are more likely to feel remorse and rehabilitate themselves. The Supreme Court has taken action to prevent juveniles from being
So let’s say the school gets ahold of the police and they won’t be there for another 30 minutes, if we have teachers with guns, then the suspect would be taken care of a lot sooner than what the police would have done. Death is not around us everyday and that's why we overlook the possibility that a school shooting could happen in our small community. Pennsylvania and other rural areas have started to let their teachers carry guns because of an incident that happened and they overlooked the possibility too, but we have a chance to act now to protect our students. “No student, no family, no teacher and no school should have to live the horror of
Have you ever been involved in a school shooting ? Imagine you are huddled in a corner with all your classmates around you screaming and crying. Minutes later you hear gunshots down the hall and the screams get more violent. Soon swat member come get you out. You see blood and injured people lying around. No kid nor a parent wants to go through that. There have been numerous school shootings in the past couple years. With metal detectors school shootings would go down tremendously.
In today’s society, gun control is currently a topic of debate in the United States. It seems as though almost every day the media is reporting the latest shooting or crime committed with a firearm. The acts of gun violence have reached far and wide, attacking even the places considered the safest, such as schools and churches. In the last 20 years, there have been numerous school shootings across the U.S., coupled with other serious acts of gun violence. These tragedies have greatly affected public opinion on gun control and interpretation of the Constitution’s Second Amendment. Recent school shootings, including those at Columbine High School in Colorado and Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, have caused some Americans to adopt a more liberal philosophy in regards to gun control, while some have upheld a more
School shootings are becoming common place in the news as school violence is on the rise. Statistics state that 31.2 percent of parents said the leading cause for choosing homeschool over public school is “concern about the environment of other schools” (Burke, 2014). According to the CDC fact sheet Understanding School Violence, 12 percent of youth in grades 9-12 report being in a physical fight on school property while 5.9 percent reported that they felt unsafe at school and did not attend. Seven percent of teachers also report that they have been threatened or injured by a student (School Violence, 2013). While only 1 percent of all youth homicides occur at schools, violence does not need to result in a fatality in order to be a concern.