The tragic events that occurred last December in Newtown, Connecticut have led to concern across the nation over the security of schools. The panic which has swept over the country has led to some schools nearby to go as far as hiring full-time police officers to guard the buildings. Although our own school has not taken such drastic measures, students can rest assured that our school’s security measures have been very proactive.
Even before the hysteria over school security gripped the nation, Dobbs Ferry Middle School had hired a security professional to inspect the school as early as last year. Some of the changes have been noticeable, such as the reduction of all outside entrances to the building to only one for the middle school and one for the high school. Students may have also noticed that the entrance to the middle school is staffed full-time. Some of the changes may have been less noticeable, such as the upgrades to security cameras and the requirement that all teachers wear identification cards.
Another section of our school security that has been tightened up is the regular lockdown drills. Although some of these drills are announced, some of these drills are not. A notice is given to the community about the two-week period in which a lockdown could possibly occur, but the element of surprise helps our school prepare for a possible day in which a state of emergency must actually occur. In the past, only an administrator at the school could call a lockdown, but now any adult in the school has the power to immediately set the middle school and the high school into lockdown mode.
“It is essential for school districts to enact all policies and put forth all necessary measures in place to ensure the safety of all who enter school buildings,” states Mr. Edward Feller, a sixth grade teacher in the middle school. However, for many schools, the direction to take to achieve security is unclear. Our school has decided to tighten up security. Some schools, though, have decided the best way is not prevention but a way to fight back. In South Dakota, school employees have been explicitly authorized to carry firearms to protect against intruders. The National Rifle Association also supports arming school employees. However, these approaches have created much controversy. Many people worry that instead of protecting children from murderers, the guns could possibly injure the very children they are trying to protect. Another argument against arming schools, especially by gun-control advocates, is that the influence of firearms must be reduced to finally put an end to gun violence in schools.
Reducing gun violence in schools is an issue the country is being forced to face. The Newtown school shooting has not been one of the first tragedies caused by firearms. Dozens of school shootings have plagued the nation in the last twenty-five years, and many more mass shootings outside of school have claimed the lives of children. Just a few months prior to the Connecticut shooting, twelve were killed in a movie theater in one of the nation’s deadliest gun incidents. Mass shootings are becoming more possible with the aid of assault weapons, which can shoot hundreds of bullets a minute. Our country is being forced to take steps to prevent further mass shootings, and that includes protecting schools.
Ellie Werthman, a sixth grader at Dobbs Ferry Middle School, says she was “shocked that somebody could kill innocent children so easily, and even more surprised how the government and NRA (National Rifle Association) handled the situation-guns should not be allowed in school!” Although it is unpredictable what measures schools will take to protect students, change is coming in one way or another. All eyes and hearts are turned to protecting the schools, and some of that energy is also coming from students themselves. Even though the need for an actual lockdown seems remote, preparing for it through lockdown drills is one of the ways students can make their own school safer. The chances for an actual lockdown are slim, but the students and new security measures are making those chances even smaller.