Posted: 12/18/2007 3:22:55 PM EDT
| I live north of Dallas County in a burb I will not name. This is one of the only ISDs of ANY size in the area that has no layer of physical security at the elementary schools. You can walk in off the street and there might be a volunteer there to ask you to sign in. Am I the only one that thinks this is BS in light of the many school invasions/shootings that have occurred over the years. I have called 40 parents and been told "nothing like that could ever happen here, it's a safe-wealthy-quiet-laid back-"mostly white" place or as the Principal told me "they would just shot the lock off the door". At least two mothers called the admin and tried to make me the bad guy. I met with the SRO "commander" and the superintendent and the SRO told me if they got another call about me "scaring people" he would "take care of me". When I pressed him on that point he went on to say he would make out a report. That's a far cry from "I'll take care of you". The SRO force might be dedicated or they might be from the same mold as the guy at Columbine but it won't matter much once the ratbag is in the school. I know you can't keep EVERYBODY out but I sure as hell lock my front door and make someone at least ask to be admitted and expect the same from them. SS |
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I'm an "itinerate" teacher for a large district north of Dallas County. (Itinerate means I travel between several campuses each school day) Although I agree with your assessment that a volunteer is "...no layer of physical security..." I really don't know what you expect to see for school security. The principal is correct. Anyone who really wants to get in a school/business/mall/church will not be stopped by a locked door. My district requires all doors to be locked and only school employees (not volunteers)may "buzz" you in. This is a layer of security that does limit unauthorized persons from wandering the halls. It won't stop a nutjob from a violent attack however. Anyone bent on hurting others won't be dissuaded by a SRO or a locked door. Allowing teachers with a CHL to carry on campus might not prevent a Columbine/Va Tech/ Mall massacre, but it wouldn't last as long. |
If you were more worried about your children's safety in school than you are out of school, you become a concern simply because you could drive spending in an irrational direction. I'd much rather see more crossing guards than school guards, because statitics say that my children are more likely to be killed by cars than guns. |
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Well when I was in high school 3 years ago, my school had hired security guards that seemed rather ineffective. One of them was an old man, probably 65+, and another was morbidly obese, I really didn't feel that they did anything to enhance safety. Most of what they would do is check to see that cars had the $50 parking pass, and question comers and goers. I don't think they would have been much of a road block to someone with a 10/22 or even a pellet gun. There was even an instance where some guys from Dallas had gone to the school, broken into about 15 cars, stole all kinds of shit, and the security guards simply called the police after several people reported their car being broken into. Where were the security guards? Inside because it was too cold. Supposedly the reason for the $50 parking pass was to pay for these two, in order to prevent, among other things, thefts in the parking lots. It didn't work so well. I won't name the district, but it was in Collin County, and completely freaked out after Columbine, bought several hundred thousands of dollars worth of metal detectors and other equipment, and had to sell them all within 6 months because they didn't have the money for them. You can also briefly see the entrance to the high school in the propaganda film Bowling for Columbine. |
| We got tons of crossing guards now, One on every corner and crosswalk.. They still have fire systems in schools even though no child has burned to death in a school fire in over 50 years. You can't foil every attempt but that's no reason not to try to foil any attempt. |
 All of these school shootings are being committed by students. It doesn't matter what security precautions are in place if the students spend the majority of their waking lives in the building. If a student wanted to circumvent security they would. Thats how they have pot, booze, sex and etc. in school. anyway... I'm for less security and less school authority over the lives of students. (am NOT advocating the drugs/alchohol/sex stuff. Just think that schools are for learning not governing students and their parents) |
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Quoted: hesequote] right on the head. while i was a senior and in physics class, a freshman pulled a gun from his pencil box and held took his algebra class hostage for about 2 hours. how was anyone going to know that he was going to do that just because the teacher wrote him up for forgetting his homework? |
Not wanting to give out a soft target of opportunity? You just did. Chances are its Allen or Lewsiville. So if I'm looking for a soft target I would start at the N. Dallas Suburbs with a large ISD and just start going to the schools pretending I'm going to enroll my child. As a terrorist time is on my side. I've got months to find your soft target that you have narrowed my search for. By the way, any school security has plenty of gaping holes. The younger the student, the more open the school is. If I recall correctly most if not all school shootings are done by students that attend or recently attended the school they shot up. Those shootings are done by children. Not adults. Ok, Cho was a adult but still a student. (V-Tech). School shootings are rare. Just like plane crashes. They are rare. When they happen they get tons of media coverage. So much you think it happens on a daily basis. If your concerned for your child, train them in what to do if they hear shots. Make sure the child knows exits to the building in case of a shooter/fire/etc. Learn what the schools public information is regarding emergency's. Some info they will give you. Some they won't. Tell your child to look both ways before crossing the street. They have a 1000% + greater chance of being run over than getting killed in a school shooting. |
| You should be happy your kid(s) attend a school that has not been turned into a prison. All the schools near me have no armed presence either. Sending kids to schools where their are armed guards, metal detectors, etc., does not seem like the kind of quality of life I would want for my kids. |
+1 |
How quickly we forget. http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/02/amish.shooting/index.html |
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SS, I think you are over reacting also, school shootings are down do the research. They just get better media coverage than they used to. Like the above poster said, educate your child on what to do, like don't take candy from strangers, run when some stranger tries to get you into his car and so on. Can something bad happen yes but all you can do is educate your child and hope for the best. If another student targets your child all your training won't matter anyway. Good luck and I hope you find a good shrink. |
okay not ALL. I'm sure the amish are all about armed guards at the lil' school house now. |
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I am really surprised by the "we can't stop everything so why bother trying anything?" attitude of most of the posters here. Very disturbing. When something bad happens, we decry the lack of security. When someone suggests security, we act like they're stupid for even suggesting being proactive. |
| no... when something bad happens, I for one, decry the decay of humanity. I look to none for my own safety. When the time comes for me to have children of my own I will put them in the best position I can as far as where we choose to live and who they will be around. You can never STOP bad things from happening but you can lower the chances by not having reliance on a false sense of security. |
So you don't lock your front door because a lock wont stop a determined thief? I just don't see a problem with suggesting common sense security measures at a school. It's not failsafe or foolproof, but in general some is better than none. |
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jim44, Let me make sure I understand this. You don't agree with me so I have a mental problem. That makes sense to you I'm sure, but would you mind explaining it to me. I know lot's of Psych folks from my working life and most of them are as F'ed up as a football bat. You might fit right in. texas infidel, Pardon me if I don't take any safety and security instruction from anyone that is ignorant enough to leave any firearm, much less a class 3 weapon, laying around so it can be stolen as easily as you did. Don't get me started on the rest of your story. I bet you lock your doors at home. To everyone else ,I don't advocate making schools at any grade level oppressive to the students in the name of security. Last week in Dallas a couple of guys bailed out of a car that was being pursued by DPD and ran right into a school building. Had they had nothing to loose and not forgotten to pick up their pistols from the floor of the car there might have been carnage through the halls of the place. Even if they had been armed with their pistols and the front door was locked they would have had to find another place to hide. There have been several shootings at elementary schools that have been RANDOM acts by people with no connection to the school. (Just because you never heard about them does not mean it didn't happen). You won't secure any building against a well thought out attack by a group of people but that's not what I'm advocating. I advocate locking the door just as I do at home and making sure anyone that wants to come has a reason to be there. That's all I have time for because I need to go take the safeties off a bunch of tools and guns and take all those airbags and car-seats out of my truck. Don't need to prevent any of that preventable stuff that just makes you weak! |
Why just teachers? Every CHL'er went thru the same background check...we're the good guys...I just wish someone would recognize that. SS, You raise some valid points...the "stealthyness" of the details unfortunately raises red flags for others. |
My advice is worth what you paid for it. The key word here is STOLEN, from a BURGLARY. If they broke into my home and STOLE a class 3 weapon am I still just as ignorant? Why don't you come ride around with me a couple days and do what I do and see if you have a different attitude of my ignorance, of having guns "laying around". I guess a hot looking woman walking down the street deserves to be raped? Being that you know my story, I don't walk around terrified of young Mexican males that walk down the street, or I see in public places. My habits haven't changed much since my little incident. Why not? Because I'm as prepared today as I was then, and I can only do so much. If one of the little gang bangers did a drive by on my home tonight, not much I can do about it while I'm sleeping now can I? Even with locked doors. I'd dare say I was pretty clever in getting all my stuff back and convincing them to give my STOLEN C3 item to an under cover ATF agent, but thats my opinion and, well you have yours. Schools are as safe today as 50 years ago, IMO. Taking the number of students and number of schools in 2007 compared to number of students and schools 50 years ago, I would say without any evidence but just guessing, that school violence isn't that much worse if not less just based on per capita of student enrollment populations of today and 50 years ago. School shootings happen in todays times (rarely) I agree. I remember the 70's when my oldest brother was at high school, stabbings were the rage. I never hear of them now. The problem is paranoia creates stupid policies. Such as the 10 year old student arrested after cutting food zero tolerance has run a muck. Our information age of today has what would be local news now international because if it bleeds it leads. |