School Shootings: Can Such Murderous Tragedies be Helpful?
74 dead. 41 wounded. 3 suicides. 59 innocent children murdered. These are the statistics of only three of the many school shootings that take place nationwide. Students and teachers were fatally harmed for no reason at all by troubled teens who struggled in their everyday lives. If they had been given proper help, would that have made a difference? If the schools had better security and safety precautions, would it have saved the many valuable lives lost? Although school shootings are insufferable tragedies, they benefit modern society with improvements in security tactics, mental health services, and crime prevention through environmental design. School shootings are some …show more content…
For example, “Lockdown, evacuation, and shelter-in-place drills have joined traditional fire and tornado drills” (Trump). Instead of only having drills for weather emergencies, schools have now added new drills to practice safety if an intruder were to enter the building. This way, they will be better prepared if a dangerous situation were to occur, and will know exactly what do to according to the circumstances. Also, “school leaders have reduced the number of doors that can be opened from the outside during school hours” and “replaced older doors and locks” (Trump). With these changes, it would be much more difficult for an intruder to get inside the school. They wouldn’t be able to find an unlocked door, or easily pick a lock to break in. Improvements have also been made in communications, such as classroom-to-office and school-to-parent messages in an emergency (Trump). By improving and enhancing communications, schools can act faster and get help sooner. The parents would be alerted of the situation sooner, and so would the police. The sooner help is notified, the less time the intruder has to cause harm. Columbine’s tragic shooting has brought much needed security awareness to schools …show more content…
For instance, “The good news is that in general, our nation’s schools today have a higher level of awareness of safety issues and preparedness for emergencies than they did prior to April 1999 (History.com Staff). Since the Columbine shooting, schools nationwide have learned from it, increasing security measures, and ensuring preparedness. Without Columbine’s unfortunate disaster, schools would not have the necessary prevention tactics that keep them safe today. “Virginia Tech has systems and procedures in place to address the problems of troubled students, but in dealing with Cho from fall 2005 through fall 2006 those systems failed in numerous ways (Gordon). While many would argue that there was no good to come out of Virginia Tech’s errors in dealing with the shooter, it indeed has its benefits. Virginia Tech’s failed attempts with Cho have showed schools today the proper way to handle misguided students. Schools have learned from their mistakes, and would not be as successful in student care if it weren't for the Virginia Tech shooting. In addition, a mother who lost her child in Sandyhook said “we focused on our desire to make schools safer in honor of our children” and started Safe and Sound, “a non-profit organization devoted to empowering communities to make their school’s safer” (Gay). Even though they suffered the loss of
74 dead. 41 wounded. 3 suicides. 59 innocent children murdered. These are the statistics of only three of the many school shootings that take place nationwide. Students and teachers were fatally harmed for no reason at all by troubled teens who struggled in their everyday lives. If they had been given proper help, would that have made a difference? If the schools had better security and safety precautions, would it have saved the many valuable lives lost? Although school shootings are insufferable tragedies, they benefit modern society with improvements in security tactics, mental health services, and crime prevention through environmental design. School shootings are some …show more content…
For example, “Lockdown, evacuation, and shelter-in-place drills have joined traditional fire and tornado drills” (Trump). Instead of only having drills for weather emergencies, schools have now added new drills to practice safety if an intruder were to enter the building. This way, they will be better prepared if a dangerous situation were to occur, and will know exactly what do to according to the circumstances. Also, “school leaders have reduced the number of doors that can be opened from the outside during school hours” and “replaced older doors and locks” (Trump). With these changes, it would be much more difficult for an intruder to get inside the school. They wouldn’t be able to find an unlocked door, or easily pick a lock to break in. Improvements have also been made in communications, such as classroom-to-office and school-to-parent messages in an emergency (Trump). By improving and enhancing communications, schools can act faster and get help sooner. The parents would be alerted of the situation sooner, and so would the police. The sooner help is notified, the less time the intruder has to cause harm. Columbine’s tragic shooting has brought much needed security awareness to schools …show more content…
For instance, “The good news is that in general, our nation’s schools today have a higher level of awareness of safety issues and preparedness for emergencies than they did prior to April 1999 (History.com Staff). Since the Columbine shooting, schools nationwide have learned from it, increasing security measures, and ensuring preparedness. Without Columbine’s unfortunate disaster, schools would not have the necessary prevention tactics that keep them safe today. “Virginia Tech has systems and procedures in place to address the problems of troubled students, but in dealing with Cho from fall 2005 through fall 2006 those systems failed in numerous ways (Gordon). While many would argue that there was no good to come out of Virginia Tech’s errors in dealing with the shooter, it indeed has its benefits. Virginia Tech’s failed attempts with Cho have showed schools today the proper way to handle misguided students. Schools have learned from their mistakes, and would not be as successful in student care if it weren't for the Virginia Tech shooting. In addition, a mother who lost her child in Sandyhook said “we focused on our desire to make schools safer in honor of our children” and started Safe and Sound, “a non-profit organization devoted to empowering communities to make their school’s safer” (Gay). Even though they suffered the loss of