Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Alexa Keller
ENGL 20803
1 April 2019
School Security
Red Lake Middle School, 2005: Ten killed. Virginia Tech University, 2007: Thirty-two
killed. Sandy Hook Elementary School, 2012: Twenty-six killed. University of California, Santa
Barbara, 2014: Six killed. Umpqua Community College, 2015: Nine killed. Marjory Stoneman
Douglas High School, 2018: Seventeen killed. Santa Fe High School, 2018: Ten killed. Only a
fraction of the school shootings that have taken place in the last twenty years are listed here, and
only a fraction of the lives lost during these shootings are accounted for by these numbers.
School should not be a scary thing, yet children are terrified to go to school, and their
parents are uneasy until their students return home again at the end of a school day. This plot is
demonstrated again and again every time another school shooting shows up on the news. All of
this anxiety and nervousness started back with the Columbine massacre in Littleton, Colorado.
Both of my parents are graduates of Columbine High School, and my father’s sophomore science
teacher, Mr. Dave Sanders, was the single teacher who was killed in the shooting on April 20th,
1999. Ever since that monumental, horrifying day almost exactly twenty years ago, the topic of
school security has been a popular conversation across the nation. As a matter of fact, starting
with the Columbine shooting in 1999, “more than 187,000 students attending at least 193
primary or secondary schools have experienced a shooting on campus during school hours…
This means that the number of children who have been shaken by gunfire in the places they go to
learn exceeds the population of Eugene, OR, or Fort Lauderdale, FL” (Chiu). Before Columbine,
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most schools did not even have a crisis plan. Now, having a crisis plan of how to respond to
threats or actual intruders is mandatory. Thankfully, since that decisive day in the suburbs of
Although some slight improvements have been documented, it is imperative that security
in public schools is enhanced. It is not something that simply should happen; it needs to happen.
There is so much conversation about how to prevent these shootings happening in the first place
by improving students’ mental health. While this is clearly important and would help to prevent
school shootings, it is imperative that security in public schools is improved for times when these
shootings do occur. Through the implementation of training programs that teach teachers and
students how to increase their chances of surviving a school shooting, through the covert
selection and training of certain staff members in schools who could act with a weapon in
extreme situations, and through adopting a public safety mobile app, public schools could
become the safe places that they were before the tragic day in 1999. The safety of children in
schools is a powerful, emotive subject and unfortunately a subject that is too often featured in a
negative light in the news today. Now more than ever, action needs to be taken to ensure that
schools are prepared for situations where a ruthless person may attempt to compromise student’s
safety and that the right measures are in place to prevent disaster.
Looking back throughout history, in general, schools have placed security low on their
list of priorities. Traditionally, the security industry had neglected school security by
concentrating on developing protection devices and surveillance systems for other types of
facilities where card access predominated. When security in schools started to become a concern
in the late 1900’s, many public schools developed their own protection systems, which primarily
consisted of chaining their secondary exits against intruders and then focusing on the problems
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of vandalism and theft. In the 2000’s, schools finally began to step up a bit. Now, nearly every
school in America has an emergency alarm system, has locks on all doors to outside, and has a
procedure set in place for when there is an intruder. While these improvements are necessary and
appreciated, these are not necessarily everything that can be done to prevent innocent children
from being tragically shot. The issue of school security is not at the forefront of people’s minds,
which is where it should be placed. Today, advancements in school security are not on as sharp
of an incline as the number of school shootings that are occurring each year. It is imperative that
enhancements are continuing to be made consistently as shooters continue to get smarter and
more skilled. If schools put security and student’s safety at the forefront of their minds, upgrades
One effective security improvement to public schools should be a program which teaches
potential victims how to raise their chances of surviving a shooting. Such a training program
would strengthen the overall feeling of security and comfort for students and teachers at school.
Lockdown procedures have been the standard procedure for years now, yet their effectiveness is
beginning to be questioned by many experts who argue that “placing a school under lockdown
can prevent disorder and aid law enforcement in apprehending the intruder. However, the
lockdown model has been criticized because it encourages students and staff to stay in the same
place and wait for help to arrive” (Montgomery). As an alternative, many security experts
believe it’s more effective for students and staff find a safe way to evacuate the school,
especially if they are in a location where the intruder can get to easily. In the past, lockdowns
have been accepted because they are an easy way to account for all students in a crisis, but if an
intruder were to make their way into a classroom, having an entire class of students huddled in
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one corner of the room makes for an easy, stationary target and doesn’t seem to be the safest
routine.
with a gun inside. Yet, lockdowns are all students are familiar with until a different method is
brought to their attention through interactive programs and school assemblies which give
students new perspectives on how to best handle an intruder. These programs give students clear
instruction as to when it makes sense to stay where they are, flee, or in dire circumstances,
distract an intruder, and how to do each. Recently a training program has been developed “that
teaches potential victims...ways to fight back. It’s called A.L.i.C.E. training: Alert, Lockdown,
Inform, Counter, Evacuate… About a million and a half students in almost 300 systems have had
A.L.i.C.E. training” (Carsen). With a short one-day school assembly, the training not only
provides students with life-saving advice and instruction, but it also provokes new thoughts and
conversations at home with families. Bringing a program like A.L.i.C.E. to public schools could
enhance school security and make students feel more prepared and more safe walking into school
Another security improvement that could save a student or teacher in an active shooter
situation is the selection and placement of specific staff members in specialized weapon training
so they would have the option of and be capable of using a firearm in extreme, deadly
circumstances. Last year, after President Donald Trump mentioned the idea of possibly adding
concealed weapons to schools, “gun rights advocates have recommended providing more armed
certainly not being recommended that all staff members carry guns. That would be absurd.
Instead, depending on how large the school is, a very small and select group of willing staff
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members that would be handpicked and would be required to go through thorough training to
handle a concealed weapon in secrecy. Neither the students nor teaching staff would be notified
of who these qualified individuals were, eliminating the chances of these weapons being used for
anything besides what they are intended to be used for. The reality is that armed security officers
can’t be in every room in the school at once, and even the nearest local police officers take at
least several minutes to arrive at the scene of a school shooting and provide assistance.
Therefore, the presence of these qualified adults in the classrooms with a secret concealed
weapon could increase the survival rate when an active shooter walks into a classroom. This is
merely because they could act against the shooter immediately, saving students in the process.
Arming teachers has recently been a controversial topic of conversation, but many are beginning
to see the advantages of arming some certified, willing teachers. Just a few years ago, The
Indiana County Republican Senate passed Bill 383, which “was approved by a 9-3 vote of
bipartisan Senate Education Committee and allows for school districts to grant properly licensed
and trained personnel access to firearms” (Davies). This county in Pennsylvania isn’t alone as
many counties across the country have passed similar bills recently, showing support of this
Although it is not new news that it is legal to own and carry a concealed weapon if
properly licensed, it has only been recently that many school administrations and school boards
have opened their minds to this idea. If carrying a concealed weapon helps many people to feel
safer in public, it would have the same effect in schools for students and the parents of students
who are sending their kids off every day to a place that has recently been a common target for
active shooters. With the ability to act instantly, school security would be improved if trained
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teachers, the identity of whom would not be known by students and staff, carried a concealed
Another possible solution to improve the issue of campus safety would be for schools to
adopt and implement public safety mobile apps that students, teachers, and staff would be
required to have on their phones. Nowadays, there are numerous effective mobile apps that exist
for the sole purpose of keeping grade school and college campuses safe. Students, starting as
young as ten years old, carry their cellular devices around with them everywhere and have them
ready to use at all times. Because of the constant availability of phones, they are an accessible,
easy way to ensure that students and teachers have a way of alerting others of danger or asking
There is a plethora of mobile apps that use many different tactics to combat the issue of a
lack of advanced school security. One commonly used app is “omnigo”, an app that provides
students with the means to anonymously disclose incidents or skeptical behavior to security via
chat interface. Users can upload and store safety procedures and policies for easy, mobile
access by members of the community or students and teachers at a school. According to the
“omnigo” website, the app provides “GPS capabilities that enable messages to be sent to all
users or those located in a specific area” to provide mass notifications. Another popular public
safety app called “CampusSafe” sets up a one-touch dial of nearby police and other
emergency, health care, and counseling numbers, along with links to crime prevention tips and
other relevant information based on the school. According to the “CampusSafe” website, the
app “features an emergency button that students can push if they feel unsafe on campus,
notifying campus and community police dispatch of their GPS location, identity and contact
information, and starting a phone conversation with dispatch.” With the assistance of apps like
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“omnigo”, “CampusSafe”, and various others, students, teachers, and staff would be more
protected by a wider span of people. All it would take would be to require everyone associated
with a school to download these free apps, and it would create a more aware, alert, and
conscious environment. In addition to everyone feeling safer, if it were publicized that schools
used apps like these, it would discourage potential shooters from even attempting to attack the
school.
In addition to school shootings being a hot topic in the news, the issue of mental health is
also pervasive, and the two are beginning to be spoken about in the same conversations. It is
often said that one of the most effective ways to prevent school shootings is to improve the
mental health of the students at the school. As one expert puts it, “Don’t harden schools. Make
them softer, by improving social and emotional health” (Kamenetz). Plenty of ideas have been
introduced to improve the mental health of students at school including having support groups,
education of mental illnesses and their effects, and the prevention of bullying. While these tactics
may be beneficial when the goal is to improve mental health, these tactics will do nothing when a
school shooting is actually occurring. Clearly it is important to make sure that students are
emotionally stable and feel supported. With saying that, when an intruder has entered a school
and is about to recklessly murder innocent children, the mental health education will have done
nothing to protect these kids from being shot. Educating students on mental health is a good
preventative measure to avoid school shootings in the future, but it is not an effective way to fix
the issue currently. School security MUST be improved for when school shootings happen.
Addressing mental health concerns may help to prevent these shootings in the future, but in order
to save kids in school now, it is imperative that we do what we can to improve school security in
a tangible way.
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Recently, the “safest school in America” has been named, and it is Southwestern High
School in Shelbyville, Indiana. The school now has a $400,000 security system that is outfitted
with bullet proof doors and hallway cameras that feed directly into the local sheriff’s office. The
school has ceiling smoke canisters that can be detonated in hallways to visually impair an
attacker or active shooter if they were to somehow enter the building. While some may say that
this is excessive, the reality is that this is a safe school; the parents of the students that attend the
school every day probably aren’t constantly worried about their precious children’s safety. In the
event that an active shooter attempted to attack the school, the students would more than likely
be safe. This school has truly done all that they can do to prepare the school in a time of crisis.
While these measures to keep students safe are extreme, they are effective. Even if schools
allocated the time and money to put one or two of these security programs in place, the issue of
It is often argued that there isn’t enough money in a school district’s budget to enhance
school security when nothing violent has yet happened at the school. But, paying for these
improvements and programs will be completely worthwhile when they used on an unexpected
tragic day. Whether it is through a school district bond, a grant, or even some school fundraising,
the budget does not need to be a barrier for safety. Children’s safety is a cause that nearly any
parent that is financially able would be willing to donate to. It’s understandable that many
schools do not want to pay extra for something that doesn’t seem like a daily issue, but the
debate of if security is worth its price dates back to the impact of the Columbine shooting.
Although there have been slight improvements, efforts to enhance security many times still fall
short as schools have to balance meeting academic needs in addition to security needs, within
tight budget constraints, that “...have not been historically part of [the] equation,” Ken Trump,
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President of School Safety and Security Services, stated. “I have walked into schools that
are…beautiful facilities that were built within budget and you look and say, ‘Where’s the
conversation about fundamental basic security?’” (Mirabella). This issue is truly no different
than paying for life insurance. Insurance is normally not needed on a day-to-day basis, but when
it is needed in extreme circumstances, one is really thankful they paid for it. Many times, it
seems like school districts across the nation find it easier and more important to secure funding
for more beautiful facilities than they do for security, as libraries are being expanded before
security is enhanced. Ultimately, it comes down to a question of which should be the priority:
extravagant buildings or life-saving plans; and for most, that is an extremely easy question to
answer. It is indisputable that most school security improvements are incredibly expensive,
especially considering that ideally they are never going to be put to use, but if the enhancements
could save even one life in an extreme situation, it seems clear that paying the price for security
pushed aside. Enhancements to existing security measures can be made through training
programs that educate students on how to raise survival rates, confidentially selecting and
training specific faculty members to keep a concealed weapon for instant action in the classroom,
and requiring the possession of certain public safety mobile apps will not only help to save more
lives, but will also enhance the students’ and staff’s feeling of safety while at school. The place
where students go to learn every day should never be a place of fear, but especially as the
number of school shootings increases, it is quite common for students and parents to feel afraid
and worried while children are at school. So, maybe now is the time for a minor pause in the
mindless spending for nicer educational technology and new facilities that are so eagerly,
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willingly paid for. Now is the time to focus more energy and money on an increase in school
security that would appease much agony as students walk into their schools every day.
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Works Cited
Carsen, Dan. “To Survive A Shooting, Students Learn To Fight Back.” NPR, NPR, 11 Oct.
2012, www.npr.org/2012/10/11/162712905/to-survive-a-shooting-students-learn-
Chiu, Allyson. “The Extraordinary Number of Kids Who Have Endured School Shootings
www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/us-school-shootings-
Davies, Tom. “Gun Training for Teachers among Indiana GOP Firearms Bills.” AP NEWS,
Green, Erica L., and Manny Fernandez. “Trump Wants to Arm Teachers. These Schools
Already Do.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 Mar. 2018,
www.nytimes.com/2018/03/01/us/armed-teachers-guns-schools.html. Accessed 1
April 2019.
Kamenetz, Anya. “Here's How To Prevent The Next School Shooting, Experts Say.” NPR,
Mirabella, Lorraine. “Security Now Plays Bigger Role in School Design in Wake of
www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-bz-school-construction-
Intruder.” Government Technology State & Local Articles - E.Republic, 9 Mar. 2015,
www.govtech.com/em/training/Controversial-Lessons-Show-How-Thwart-Armed-