Will our schools ever be safe again?
Today we have another school shooting and this time it was in the State of Washington. There will again be many calls for gun control legislation and there may be some good suggestions but whatever they are it must be remembered that the right to bear arms is engrained in the Constitution. There is no question that something must be done to protect students of all ages in our schools throughout the country but the big question is what can be done or should be done. Our schools will be safe again but only if the right actions are taken which protect the rights of citizens to bear arms and the safety of students everywhere.
Students and parents have the right to feel their school system is safe along with their children when they are in school. What appears to be a continual onslaught on our schools at all levels needs to be understood before the right actions can be taken. I am a strong supporter of the Constitution including the right to bear arms engrained in the 2nd Amendment. Schools at all levels are affected by these events and when these events occur it causes schools to examine their security system to determine whether changes are necessary. Students must feel safe so they can concentrate on learning the subjects they are being taught
We as a country need take action to either prevent the violence or reduce the opportunities for individuals to commit this type of crime. Each individual school must be involved in decisions associated with their campus to determine the security measures necessary to improve their security. While some school systems have made improvements in the safety of their schools those which have taken place in other country raises the same question. The question to be answered is can the safety of our schools be improved to the degree required without creating a fortress for each institution. Whether anything can be done to improve school safety is something to be answered by local, state and federal governments. It is a difficult question to answer but one which must be examined.
The leaders of tomorrow must feel they are in a safe environment so they can concentrate on the subjects they are being taught and not have to worry about whether they are safe. It is true that many things happen in school systems and not every situation will be a prelude to violence and as such commonsense needs to be applied while understanding the need for safety. The need for school safety and the actions necessary are different at different levels of learning institutions. The necessary controls will be different in a public school system as compared to a college or university environment.
Actions are necessary at public school systems to increase the safety of their campus. Security measures must be increased to the point that they will either prevent opportunities for school shootings or restrict the speed at which these events have taken place. One example which may be an option is to have metal detectors at all school entrances in which each student must pass through. In the school shooting in Newtown it was reported that some degree of secure entrance was in place but the shooter just busted the glass and walked right in. These kinds of entrances should be secure to the point that they cannot be easily broken as in the Newtown example. Also the locks on entrances should be to the point that they are secure to prevent unauthorized access.
The security of our schools is of the utmost importance to protect the leaders of tomorrow. Another aspect which needs to be examined is the access to guns by these individuals especially if they are students. In the latest event in the state of Washington it was reported that the gun the shooter used was owned by his father. Guns should be secured to the point that easy access does not exist. While this points to some responsibility of parents who own guns no parent wants to believe their child would commit such acts. It is the responsibility of all gun owners to prevent easy access to these weapons lest their rights to own guns in the future may be in jeopardy if some politicians would have their way regardless of the rights we have under the Constitution.
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