Columbine On April 20th, 1999 in the town of Littleton, Colorado the nation was horrified. Two high school seniors, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, killed thirteen and injured twenty four before turning the guns and proceeding to take their own lives.1 This was the school shooting that changed everything. It opened people's eyes to possibilities of murder-suicides happening in schools. It didn’t just affect their little town or even the state of Colorado, it prompted national debate and made everyone think twice about simply taking their daily trip to pick up their kids from school. No one knew how to react in the moment or who else they could put the blame on. The school shooting at Columbine caused a greater control on guns, better police
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It also caused the school security systems to be altered. The amount of school security has heightened. Some schools added metal detectors to there entre ways in the years following Columbine. It would be that every student, faculty, or visitor that entered the building would have to pass through the metal detector. This was to prevent anyone with a weapon, such as a gun or knife, to be allowed in. Schools would begin to install more security cameras, making it so there wasn’t any part of the building they couldn’t watch.5 National Statistics show that on the years following Columbine schools around the country greatly increased the number of doors they either would lock during the school day or closely monitor. Columbine rose the number of visual safety aspects significantly, hoping number of incidents would decline. In 1999, only about one in five schools used or had working security cameras. But, today more than three in five schools have applied this key safety measure.6 It also comes down to new school policies such as no backpacks in the classroom and requiring students to carry identification. Other schools even added a few on-campus police officers. Although, these policies may not have been picked up in every school it is far more common than in the late 90’s. Teachers now have training on hostile situations for not only an intruder in the building, as well as if the intruder may be on the exterior. Many of these “newer” security measures proved to be very costly. This of course would cause much controversy on if it would be necessary. But, with the rising number of school shootings it became a necessity so have these security factors in the schools. Every measure that has been taken since Columbine regarding school security is not only to keep the students and faculty safer, but also to make the parents of the students feel more secure
It also caused the school security systems to be altered. The amount of school security has heightened. Some schools added metal detectors to there entre ways in the years following Columbine. It would be that every student, faculty, or visitor that entered the building would have to pass through the metal detector. This was to prevent anyone with a weapon, such as a gun or knife, to be allowed in. Schools would begin to install more security cameras, making it so there wasn’t any part of the building they couldn’t watch.5 National Statistics show that on the years following Columbine schools around the country greatly increased the number of doors they either would lock during the school day or closely monitor. Columbine rose the number of visual safety aspects significantly, hoping number of incidents would decline. In 1999, only about one in five schools used or had working security cameras. But, today more than three in five schools have applied this key safety measure.6 It also comes down to new school policies such as no backpacks in the classroom and requiring students to carry identification. Other schools even added a few on-campus police officers. Although, these policies may not have been picked up in every school it is far more common than in the late 90’s. Teachers now have training on hostile situations for not only an intruder in the building, as well as if the intruder may be on the exterior. Many of these “newer” security measures proved to be very costly. This of course would cause much controversy on if it would be necessary. But, with the rising number of school shootings it became a necessity so have these security factors in the schools. Every measure that has been taken since Columbine regarding school security is not only to keep the students and faculty safer, but also to make the parents of the students feel more secure