I believe supplying all substitute teachers with keys to their classroom is a very good idea. I believe so because after what happened to these students after Sandy Hook, extra measures should be taken to make all students and teachers feeling safe. The school shooting was brutal and made students in every state feel unsafe, or worried.
When I first heard the news of the shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown my heart immediately sank. I could not believe that someone could be that disturbed mentally and want to take the lives of innocent children. I am glad to see that the events of that day are causing the school district to take extra measures to make sure that all the students and teachers and anyone else that is in the school buildings safe while they are there. I know some individuals feel that the new measures that are being taken might feel like the school is on lockdown all the time but I would rather the school be on constant lockdown during the school day than to have someone easily enter the building and begin to cause harm to those inside before the school is sent in to lockdown. It is very important that we protect the students and the teachers. Giving the teachers substitute teachers keys is a step in the right direction but there is still a lot more work to be done.
The school shooting was horrible and measures should be taken to protect individuals under attack. I am confused as to why doors being locked or unlocked is an issue. Adam had a gun and could shoot the lock off and gain access easily. Perhaps arming teachers would be a better solution. People are focusing on the wrong things with this shooting. Mental health not gun control should be the main issue, as well as remembering the victims.
Giving a key to a substitute most likely will not solve school violence. Teachers are people and are going to forget to lock things. I gathered from using wiki answers and my calculator, it would cost roughly 3,600,000,000 dollars for one armed guard at each school in the US yearly. This being if we paid a guard: 15 dollars an hour, 8 hour shift, 5 days a week. This is a lot of money. It would most likely cost way more for automatic doors and or bullet proof glass. The maintenance would most likely be a high cost as well. Therefore the only feasible solution to this problem is; make it a requirement for the principle and vice-principals to carry a firearm. I know this sounds dangerous too, but I will explain. If the principal/vice-principal is a responsible citizen then, it could all work out fine and dandy. If an intruder came in, at least one person would have a weapon. If, however, the principal turns batty; it is only a side arm he/she is carrying. I don’t know the exact statistics, but I believe the accuracy and power is less than that of a rifle. Therefore if in the wrong hands, the students could out run and hide from that way easier than a rifle. Even if the principal doesn’t shoot, just scaring the perpetrator could be a good start.
It's a start! This can definitely buy police more time to arrive and catch the shooter. School shootings, school violence in general, is a hard topic to discuss because we are talking about children dying. No matter what kind of measures we decide to take for schools, and how many changes we make there is still many things, like the shooters mind, that we will never be able to understand or change. Someone who is determined to kill will do so no matter what it will take because of the things that originally caused them to become deviant. I have a feeling that pretty soon schools will end up having a prison like environment. I know some schools already do. This is sad because I remember when I was in elementary and how cheerful and open the school the felt and walking into one right now has a different vibe. Can we blame them with how many crazy people there is in the world?
The shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was horrible and it’s terrifying knowing one of those little angels could have been one of our little brothers. After this shooting many precautions should be taken and by giving substitutes keys to their classroom it’s a great start. Some people might think this will not help in anyway, but it’s a way to a least give the victims a chance to try to escape if there is a window or another door in the classroom. By having the classrooms locked it can also give the police more time to get to the school before the criminal can actually get into the classroom. It might not seem like a big precaution, but any small precaution can make a difference and can save a little angels life. It is unbelievable how a person can be that mentally ill to actually want to kill a little innocent child for no reason. I think schools should have more police officers inside their campus walking around and searching each individual before they can enter the school. By having more the police officers on campus not only will the kids feel save, but also the teachers.
The shooting in Newtown, Connecticut at the Sandy Hook Elementary has been the most horrific and unheard of thing that has ever happened in my lifetime. I cannot believe someone is so heartless that they have to go into a school and shoot little innocent children while they were learning. I am so glad that the school has made a new policy. All substitute teachers get a key for the doors so they are able to lock and unlock the classroom doors they are in. All teachers have to lock their doors before class then shut them in an event that someone does decide to walk in and shoot a whole bunch of little children. I know that the police and the parents are looking at all the information to find out about the door situation, if it was locked or not. My opinion is that it really does not matter anymore because the shooting already happened and there is nothing anyone can do to prevent it. The only thing we can do is look to the future, which they are doing by creating the new policy. I am very glad Lauren Rousseau, the father of a substitute teacher, thought of the question of whether his daughter had a key or not to lock the door for her and the children’s safety. Who knows if the policy would have been made without Rousseau’s questioning.
I don’t agree with the Newton School policies. If someone with a gun wants to get into a locked door they can and they will. I don’t see how having the doors locked will help anything, because in this it article is clearly stated “ Lanza shot his way into the school through the glass windows at the front entrance.” I know that glass is see through, but just like he shot his way through the front he could just as easily shoot the lock of a door and open it. Something more than locked doors has to be done to stop the crazy people that decide that one day they are going to shoot up a school of innocent people.
it is really sad how there is people capable of doing such a terrible thing as taking children's life. the shooting at Sandy Hook was shocking for the entire country, due to this event, the entire country is now taking new security measures to prevent future shootings like this one. i think that every substitute teacher should be given a prevention plan for any emergency. they should be aware of where emergency exits are placed, where everybody would go in case something bad is going on; of course every substitute should have a key for the classrooms, we never know what can happen.
What happened in Sandy Hook Elementary was horrific and innocent lives were lost that day. I do believe that Sandy Hook Elementary did have a good security plan set up and was well prepared for an act of violence. However even though sandy hook elementary had a security plan, the security plan was not able to prevent this horrific attack. I do believe that anything that can be learned from this event should be implemented and applied to existing or future school security plans. By learning what could have been done better could prevent or deter any future acts of school violence. However the biggest lesson that we can learn from this event is that no security plan is one hundred percent. If an attacker has the motivation and the drive to kill he is going to complete his goal and not even a locked door would stop him. When Adam lanza attacked Sandy Hook Elementary the front doors of the school were locked. Even though the front doors were locked, lanza was motivated to accomplish his mission and shot thru the locked doors and forced his way in. So as you can see if there's a will there's a way, although I believe that a lock door might deter an attacker, I believe that we should focus on the bigger picture that is causing these mass shootings, such as our culture of violence and our gun culture.
Yes, what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary was horrific. There is no doubt about it! After reading the article and all comments I think we are looking at this all wrong. Someone made a comment about mental illness; it was very brief and never mentioned again. That is where the problem lies. The problem is not gun control, whether or not substitute teachers have keys to lock classroom doors or even a security plan in place. The problem is mental illness. Do you really believe someone would plan to go to a school filled with students, doesn’t matter if it is an elementary school or a college, and open fire to see how many people they can kill and be sane? If you believe that gun control and/or security measures can fix the problem, then I would like to sell you the Golden Gate Bridge. How did the substitute teacher get in her classroom anyway? If someone opened the door for her, that same person could have locked it back and she would not have to worry about trying to lock the door before Adam Lanza got to her classroom and opened fire. It seems that there would not be time for any teacher or administrator to lock their door and get the children into a safe place. Back to what the REAL issue is, mental health. People want to ignore this problem because it has been looked down in our society forever. But there is a real problem that should be addressed when it comes to mental health. Instead of ignoring it, let’s bring it to the forefront of this battle and try to win the war against this type of violence. Anyone in their right mind would not get up one day and say, “I think I will go to the local school or any other public place and kill as many people as I can.” If they do, they are sick and need someone to take a minute or two of their time to help them. Just some food for thought!
I agree that if doors are locked in classrooms they could deter the shooter from entering and killing people inside. If a shooter is walking down a schools hallways looking to shoot anyone in sight then they might pass by the doors that are shut and locked and move on to the next open door with people inside. If there are windows on the doors I do think that the teachers should have their doors locked and move the students to a place where they cannot be seen from the window. To my knowledge I think this is what most school teachers are instructed to do. On the other hand though if a shooter is looking for a specific target or targets in a particular room then a locked door and turned out lights with nobody in sight from the entrance could delay the shooter but might not prevent them from entering. All in all thought a locked door with a dark room and nobody in sight is a good way of trying to deter a shooter once they are already in the building.
This is a prime example of something bad has to happen first before change is made. Instead of doing the right thing in the first place. They should have gave all the teachers subs included keys to the class room. If that was done then maybe all of those teachers and students would not have been killed. The school administrators knew the subs did not have keys to the classrooms they were in. Why is that we can not make policy changes to prevent a tragedy? Why does something bad have to happen before we make changes? Because people want to save money. For example how come we do not have armed security at are school? how are the professors suppose to lock the door when there are no locks on the door? What if we have an active shooter at this school? Who is to say that it can not happen here? Think about..
Yes I think we can agree that the events at Sandy Hook were horrific and tragic, but I am not sure that providing a key to a substitute teacher would have prohibited this act from occurring. Adam Lanza was determined to take lives and show his dominance as evident by shooting his way into the locked school. I do not think that providing a key to a substitute teacher in order to lock a door would have acted as a deterrent at all. Although I am glad that the school continues to examine ways to help protect our children while attending school, I still think they are not addressing the real issues. I think they are examining ways to cover themselves in case further violent acts occur but they are not addressing the real questions about WHY these acts continue to happen. I hope this is one way to help save innocent lives but I think the educational system along with other organizations such as the police and psychiatric associations need to figure out how to help identify people at risk for committing such acts and how to prevent these acts from occurring.
Unfortunately, we can not stop people from doing whatever they would like to do. These precautions will definitely be affective though. Sad to say, no matter what it is done, you cannot fix crazy. Whatever needs to be done to ensure a more secure environment for our children is indeed necessary . There are many schools that have doors that automatically lock once they are closed. I believe all schools should invest in this. Adam Lanza is another individual who started a mass shooting, and is just showing us the holes we have in security in schools. At the end of the day, there is always room for improving. Hopefully, while looking into prevention, they find more holes to cover without another mass shooting leading them to those holes. School districts need to be more aware and more strict on procedures. If they are enforced, things will get done and could be the difference between lives being saved.
I didn't know that Adam Lanza had shot his way into the school; he was determined to get into the elementary school and kill, kill young, innocent children. He really was messed up in the head.The change of providing substitutes with their own keys is not a drastic change, but it’s a start towards working to minimize and prevent these school shootings. Having their own keys gives them the authority and ensures that they will be able to lock and unlock their classroom doors when necessary. My team and I practice at the middle school across the street on their track, and I know that sometimes they have to use the restroom and they simply walk into the school from the back side! The doors are unlocked and pretty much open to whomever wants to come in which is very dangerous; all doors except maybe the main entrance doors to the school should be locked. Unlocked side and back doors just make it easier for anyone to walk in and go unnoticed, making it easier to kill. I’ve always thought about what I would do if a shooter were to walk into my classroom? And the honest truth is that I don’t know what I’d do. That’s why it’s important to make try and prevent these instances as much as possible. By providing the substitutes with their own keys they will be able to lock the doors making it harder for the shooter/shooters to get in. Shooters are in a hurry, shooting at whoever they see and can get too the easiest. I don’t believe that they will try to get through a locked door and waste time. Any type of deterrence measures needs to be taken!
I believe supplying substitute teachers with keys to the classroom they are filling in for is a very good idea for a start. We have to find ways to secure schools all around the country from elementary to high school and universities, to prevent another shooting like the one in Sandy Hook elementary and many other schools around our country. If we find ways, like giving keys to all the substitutes to make sure they lock their doors in case of a lockdown that will automatically make the school just a slight safer compared to if the door was wide open and anybody could just march in the door and start shooting. The School Districts should also keep a closer look at their schools to make sure they are all following the correct safety procedures, like giving their substitutes the key to the classroom in case of a lockdown. In other words, making sure the schools give a key of the classroom to the substitutes is an important step for school to take when it refers to the safety of their students and staff.
The Sandy Hook shooting was sad and horrific ordeal. Bailey Clark might be right that, because Adam Lanza was determined to kill, it would not have made a difference if the teacher had a key to lock the door. However, it stated that he passed up the first class, which had the door closed. This could have been because he wanted to quickly enter and kill as many people as possible without giving them a chance to escape if he would have shot through a closed door or tried to open it. Maybe schools should look at getting bulletproof glass on the entrance doors and windows that surround the schools, so once the doors lock when school is in session, a person can’t just shoot their way through the glass.
I agree with Amayes, maybe schools should invest more money into prevention, such as bulletproof glass and doors. Maybe if Sandy Hook had invested money in the bulletproof glass suggested, then maybe Adam Lanza’s plan would have been prevented because he would not have gained access to the school. At the high school I attended, after the numerous school shootings, they installed bullet proof glass and automatic locks on the door that automatically locked all the doors in the school with a push of the button, so no one could enter anywhere in the school. Further research needs to be performed on whether these safety precautions could potentially prevent more school shootings from occurring. Even though I agree with these prevention methods, I still do not feel they will fully prevent these violent acts from occurring, because they are not dealing with the core of why these shootings continually occur.
Changes in school policy may help but could a lock door stop someone who’s determining to enter with a gun. The door structure or frame of school building is easy to crack with the tools. Teachers should be trained in hand to hand combat to give teachers an edge on a shooter that enters a school. Train teaches to think about how to protect their students by giving them other ways to get out of the building like breaking windows (in case of emergency) or using their desk as a barrage. The cost for training would be low because school shootings only happens in suburban land based on Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) by the FBI
I do agree that substitute teachers should be given keys just in case a situation like this does happen again. It would be safe for them to lock the doors to keep the shooter out. However, the structures may be easy to get through or shoot through so maybe along with a key, enforce some of the doors more and train all teachers how to defend if something like this happens. Create spaces for children to hide in the classrooms and just be prepared. Regardless of whether the door is locked or not, if the shooter wants in, he will find a way in if it is just a wooden door in the way of his insanity.
I don’t know if supplying substitutes with keys to the classrooms is the actual smart thing to do, nor will it help if something tragic like this ever happens again. I think that by allowing substitutes to have keys to classrooms, it may incur more problems. I think that perhaps all schools should invest in the doors that have automatic locks that lock on the outside once it is shut. In order for anyone to have access to the room, it either needs to be that particular teacher’s classroom, a custodian or an administrator. If there is going to be a substitute for that day, then I think that the he/she needs to check in the office and get a temporary key for the timeframe that they are there, or have an administrator unlock the door for them. This will also help prevent keys from being made by a non staff person. It is very unfortunate that these types of measures have to be taken, but we have to start thinking of safety when it involves the lives of children and ourselves. Unfortunately, we cannot control every act of violence, but we can start by taking all necessary precautions, most importantly in our schools.
Automatic locks are the best solution nonetheless. For instance what if a substitute teacher is a shooter? What will the school do then? What would happen if a substitute had keys to unlock every single room in the school? That would be a terrible tragedy. Gun control isn't the issue here either, it is the issue of school safety measures not being met like in this case. Texas Wesleyan has poor safety measures as well. There aren't even locks on the classrooms I attend, what happens if a shooter wants access to our rooms? It wouldn't be hard to breech.
http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/national/adam-lanza-update-sandy-hook-school-shooting-causes-change-in-newtown-school-policies
I believe supplying all substitute teachers with keys to their classroom is a very good idea. I believe so because after what happened to these students after Sandy Hook, extra measures should be taken to make all students and teachers feeling safe. The school shooting was brutal and made students in every state feel unsafe, or worried.
ReplyDeleteWhen I first heard the news of the shooting at the Sandy Hook elementary school in Newtown my heart immediately sank. I could not believe that someone could be that disturbed mentally and want to take the lives of innocent children. I am glad to see that the events of that day are causing the school district to take extra measures to make sure that all the students and teachers and anyone else that is in the school buildings safe while they are there. I know some individuals feel that the new measures that are being taken might feel like the school is on lockdown all the time but I would rather the school be on constant lockdown during the school day than to have someone easily enter the building and begin to cause harm to those inside before the school is sent in to lockdown. It is very important that we protect the students and the teachers. Giving the teachers substitute teachers keys is a step in the right direction but there is still a lot more work to be done.
ReplyDeleteThe school shooting was horrible and measures should be taken to protect individuals under attack. I am confused as to why doors being locked or unlocked is an issue. Adam had a gun and could shoot the lock off and gain access easily. Perhaps arming teachers would be a better solution. People are focusing on the wrong things with this shooting. Mental health not gun control should be the main issue, as well as remembering the victims.
ReplyDeleteGiving a key to a substitute most likely will not solve school violence. Teachers are people and are going to forget to lock things. I gathered from using wiki answers and my calculator, it would cost roughly 3,600,000,000 dollars for one armed guard at each school in the US yearly. This being if we paid a guard: 15 dollars an hour, 8 hour shift, 5 days a week. This is a lot of money. It would most likely cost way more for automatic doors and or bullet proof glass. The maintenance would most likely be a high cost as well. Therefore the only feasible solution to this problem is; make it a requirement for the principle and vice-principals to carry a firearm. I know this sounds dangerous too, but I will explain. If the principal/vice-principal is a responsible citizen then, it could all work out fine and dandy. If an intruder came in, at least one person would have a weapon. If, however, the principal turns batty; it is only a side arm he/she is carrying. I don’t know the exact statistics, but I believe the accuracy and power is less than that of a rifle. Therefore if in the wrong hands, the students could out run and hide from that way easier than a rifle. Even if the principal doesn’t shoot, just scaring the perpetrator could be a good start.
ReplyDeletehttp://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_schools_are_in_the_United_States
It's a start! This can definitely buy police more time to arrive and catch the shooter. School shootings, school violence in general, is a hard topic to discuss because we are talking about children dying. No matter what kind of measures we decide to take for schools, and how many changes we make there is still many things, like the shooters mind, that we will never be able to understand or change. Someone who is determined to kill will do so no matter what it will take because of the things that originally caused them to become deviant. I have a feeling that pretty soon schools will end up having a prison like environment. I know some schools already do. This is sad because I remember when I was in elementary and how cheerful and open the school the felt and walking into one right now has a different vibe. Can we blame them with how many crazy people there is in the world?
ReplyDeleteThe shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was horrible and it’s terrifying knowing one of those little angels could have been one of our little brothers. After this shooting many precautions should be taken and by giving substitutes keys to their classroom it’s a great start. Some people might think this will not help in anyway, but it’s a way to a least give the victims a chance to try to escape if there is a window or another door in the classroom. By having the classrooms locked it can also give the police more time to get to the school before the criminal can actually get into the classroom. It might not seem like a big precaution, but any small precaution can make a difference and can save a little angels life. It is unbelievable how a person can be that mentally ill to actually want to kill a little innocent child for no reason. I think schools should have more police officers inside their campus walking around and searching each individual before they can enter the school. By having more the police officers on campus not only will the kids feel save, but also the teachers.
ReplyDeleteThe shooting in Newtown, Connecticut at the Sandy Hook Elementary has been the most horrific and unheard of thing that has ever happened in my lifetime. I cannot believe someone is so heartless that they have to go into a school and shoot little innocent children while they were learning. I am so glad that the school has made a new policy. All substitute teachers get a key for the doors so they are able to lock and unlock the classroom doors they are in. All teachers have to lock their doors before class then shut them in an event that someone does decide to walk in and shoot a whole bunch of little children. I know that the police and the parents are looking at all the information to find out about the door situation, if it was locked or not. My opinion is that it really does not matter anymore because the shooting already happened and there is nothing anyone can do to prevent it. The only thing we can do is look to the future, which they are doing by creating the new policy. I am very glad Lauren Rousseau, the father of a substitute teacher, thought of the question of whether his daughter had a key or not to lock the door for her and the children’s safety. Who knows if the policy would have been made without Rousseau’s questioning.
ReplyDeleteI don’t agree with the Newton School policies. If someone with a gun wants to get into a locked door they can and they will. I don’t see how having the doors locked will help anything, because in this it article is clearly stated “ Lanza shot his way into the school through the glass windows at the front entrance.” I know that glass is see through, but just like he shot his way through the front he could just as easily shoot the lock of a door and open it. Something more than locked doors has to be done to stop the crazy people that decide that one day they are going to shoot up a school of innocent people.
ReplyDeleteit is really sad how there is people capable of doing such a terrible thing as taking children's life. the shooting at Sandy Hook was shocking for the entire country, due to this event, the entire country is now taking new security measures to prevent future shootings like this one.
ReplyDeletei think that every substitute teacher should be given a prevention plan for any emergency. they should be aware of where emergency exits are placed, where everybody would go in case something bad is going on; of course every substitute should have a key for the classrooms, we never know what can happen.
What happened in Sandy Hook Elementary was horrific and innocent lives were lost that day. I do believe that Sandy Hook Elementary did have a good security plan set up and was well prepared for an act of violence. However even though sandy hook elementary had a security plan, the security plan was not able to prevent this horrific attack. I do believe that anything that can be learned from this event should be implemented and applied to existing or future school security plans. By learning what could have been done better could prevent or deter any future acts of school violence. However the biggest lesson that we can learn from this event is that no security plan is one hundred percent. If an attacker has the motivation and the drive to kill he is going to complete his goal and not even a locked door would stop him. When Adam lanza attacked Sandy Hook Elementary the front doors of the school were locked. Even though the front doors were locked, lanza was motivated to accomplish his mission and shot thru the locked doors and forced his way in. So as you can see if there's a will there's a way, although I believe that a lock door might deter an attacker, I believe that we should focus on the bigger picture that is causing these mass shootings, such as our culture of violence and our gun culture.
ReplyDeleteYes, what happened at Sandy Hook Elementary was horrific. There is no doubt about it! After reading the article and all comments I think we are looking at this all wrong. Someone made a comment about mental illness; it was very brief and never mentioned again. That is where the problem lies. The problem is not gun control, whether or not substitute teachers have keys to lock classroom doors or even a security plan in place. The problem is mental illness. Do you really believe someone would plan to go to a school filled with students, doesn’t matter if it is an elementary school or a college, and open fire to see how many people they can kill and be sane? If you believe that gun control and/or security measures can fix the problem, then I would like to sell you the Golden Gate Bridge.
ReplyDeleteHow did the substitute teacher get in her classroom anyway? If someone opened the door for her, that same person could have locked it back and she would not have to worry about trying to lock the door before Adam Lanza got to her classroom and opened fire. It seems that there would not be time for any teacher or administrator to lock their door and get the children into a safe place.
Back to what the REAL issue is, mental health. People want to ignore this problem because it has been looked down in our society forever. But there is a real problem that should be addressed when it comes to mental health. Instead of ignoring it, let’s bring it to the forefront of this battle and try to win the war against this type of violence. Anyone in their right mind would not get up one day and say, “I think I will go to the local school or any other public place and kill as many people as I can.” If they do, they are sick and need someone to take a minute or two of their time to help them.
Just some food for thought!
I agree that if doors are locked in classrooms they could deter the shooter from entering and killing people inside. If a shooter is walking down a schools hallways looking to shoot anyone in sight then they might pass by the doors that are shut and locked and move on to the next open door with people inside. If there are windows on the doors I do think that the teachers should have their doors locked and move the students to a place where they cannot be seen from the window. To my knowledge I think this is what most school teachers are instructed to do. On the other hand though if a shooter is looking for a specific target or targets in a particular room then a locked door and turned out lights with nobody in sight from the entrance could delay the shooter but might not prevent them from entering. All in all thought a locked door with a dark room and nobody in sight is a good way of trying to deter a shooter once they are already in the building.
ReplyDeleteThis is a prime example of something bad has to happen first before change is made. Instead of doing the right thing in the first place. They should have gave all the teachers subs included keys to the class room. If that was done then maybe all of those teachers and students would not have been killed. The school administrators knew the subs did not have keys to the classrooms they were in. Why is that we can not make policy changes to prevent a tragedy? Why does something bad have to happen before we make changes? Because people want to save money. For example how come we do not have armed security at are school? how are the professors suppose to lock the door when there are no locks on the door? What if we have an active shooter at this school? Who is to say that it can not happen here? Think about..
ReplyDeleteYes I think we can agree that the events at Sandy Hook were horrific and tragic, but I am not sure that providing a key to a substitute teacher would have prohibited this act from occurring. Adam Lanza was determined to take lives and show his dominance as evident by shooting his way into the locked school. I do not think that providing a key to a substitute teacher in order to lock a door would have acted as a deterrent at all. Although I am glad that the school continues to examine ways to help protect our children while attending school, I still think they are not addressing the real issues. I think they are examining ways to cover themselves in case further violent acts occur but they are not addressing the real questions about WHY these acts continue to happen. I hope this is one way to help save innocent lives but I think the educational system along with other organizations such as the police and psychiatric associations need to figure out how to help identify people at risk for committing such acts and how to prevent these acts from occurring.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, we can not stop people from doing whatever they would like to do. These precautions will definitely be affective though. Sad to say, no matter what it is done, you cannot fix crazy. Whatever needs to be done to ensure a more secure environment for our children is indeed necessary . There are many schools that have doors that automatically lock once they are closed. I believe all schools should invest in this. Adam Lanza is another individual who started a mass shooting, and is just showing us the holes we have in security in schools. At the end of the day, there is always room for improving. Hopefully, while looking into prevention, they find more holes to cover without another mass shooting leading them to those holes. School districts need to be more aware and more strict on procedures. If they are enforced, things will get done and could be the difference between lives being saved.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that Adam Lanza had shot his way into the school; he was determined to get into the elementary school and kill, kill young, innocent children. He really was messed up in the head.The change of providing substitutes with their own keys is not a drastic change, but it’s a start towards working to minimize and prevent these school shootings. Having their own keys gives them the authority and ensures that they will be able to lock and unlock their classroom doors when necessary. My team and I practice at the middle school across the street on their track, and I know that sometimes they have to use the restroom and they simply walk into the school from the back side! The doors are unlocked and pretty much open to whomever wants to come in which is very dangerous; all doors except maybe the main entrance doors to the school should be locked. Unlocked side and back doors just make it easier for anyone to walk in and go unnoticed, making it easier to kill. I’ve always thought about what I would do if a shooter were to walk into my classroom? And the honest truth is that I don’t know what I’d do. That’s why it’s important to make try and prevent these instances as much as possible. By providing the substitutes with their own keys they will be able to lock the doors making it harder for the shooter/shooters to get in. Shooters are in a hurry, shooting at whoever they see and can get too the easiest. I don’t believe that they will try to get through a locked door and waste time. Any type of deterrence measures needs to be taken!
ReplyDeleteI believe supplying substitute teachers with keys to the classroom they are filling in for is a very good idea for a start. We have to find ways to secure schools all around the country from elementary to high school and universities, to prevent another shooting like the one in Sandy Hook elementary and many other schools around our country. If we find ways, like giving keys to all the substitutes to make sure they lock their doors in case of a lockdown that will automatically make the school just a slight safer compared to if the door was wide open and anybody could just march in the door and start shooting. The School Districts should also keep a closer look at their schools to make sure they are all following the correct safety procedures, like giving their substitutes the key to the classroom in case of a lockdown. In other words, making sure the schools give a key of the classroom to the substitutes is an important step for school to take when it refers to the safety of their students and staff.
ReplyDeleteThe Sandy Hook shooting was sad and horrific ordeal. Bailey Clark might be right that, because Adam Lanza was determined to kill, it would not have made a difference if the teacher had a key to lock the door. However, it stated that he passed up the first class, which had the door closed. This could have been because he wanted to quickly enter and kill as many people as possible without giving them a chance to escape if he would have shot through a closed door or tried to open it. Maybe schools should look at getting bulletproof glass on the entrance doors and windows that surround the schools, so once the doors lock when school is in session, a person can’t just shoot their way through the glass.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Amayes, maybe schools should invest more money into prevention, such as bulletproof glass and doors. Maybe if Sandy Hook had invested money in the bulletproof glass suggested, then maybe Adam Lanza’s plan would have been prevented because he would not have gained access to the school. At the high school I attended, after the numerous school shootings, they installed bullet proof glass and automatic locks on the door that automatically locked all the doors in the school with a push of the button, so no one could enter anywhere in the school. Further research needs to be performed on whether these safety precautions could potentially prevent more school shootings from occurring. Even though I agree with these prevention methods, I still do not feel they will fully prevent these violent acts from occurring, because they are not dealing with the core of why these shootings continually occur.
DeleteChanges in school policy may help but could a lock door stop someone who’s determining to enter with a gun. The door structure or frame of school building is easy to crack with the tools. Teachers should be trained in hand to hand combat to give teachers an edge on a shooter that enters a school. Train teaches to think about how to protect their students by giving them other ways to get out of the building like breaking windows (in case of emergency) or using their desk as a barrage. The cost for training would be low because school shootings only happens in suburban land based on Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) by the FBI
ReplyDeleteI do agree that substitute teachers should be given keys just in case a situation like this does happen again. It would be safe for them to lock the doors to keep the shooter out. However, the structures may be easy to get through or shoot through so maybe along with a key, enforce some of the doors more and train all teachers how to defend if something like this happens. Create spaces for children to hide in the classrooms and just be prepared. Regardless of whether the door is locked or not, if the shooter wants in, he will find a way in if it is just a wooden door in the way of his insanity.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know if supplying substitutes with keys to the classrooms is the actual smart thing to do, nor will it help if something tragic like this ever happens again. I think that by allowing substitutes to have keys to classrooms, it may incur more problems. I think that perhaps all schools should invest in the doors that have automatic locks that lock on the outside once it is shut. In order for anyone to have access to the room, it either needs to be that particular teacher’s classroom, a custodian or an administrator. If there is going to be a substitute for that day, then I think that the he/she needs to check in the office and get a temporary key for the timeframe that they are there, or have an administrator unlock the door for them. This will also help prevent keys from being made by a non staff person. It is very unfortunate that these types of measures have to be taken, but we have to start thinking of safety when it involves the lives of children and ourselves. Unfortunately, we cannot control every act of violence, but we can start by taking all necessary precautions, most importantly in our schools.
ReplyDeleteAutomatic locks are the best solution nonetheless. For instance what if a substitute teacher is a shooter? What will the school do then? What would happen if a substitute had keys to unlock every single room in the school? That would be a terrible tragedy. Gun control isn't the issue here either, it is the issue of school safety measures not being met like in this case. Texas Wesleyan has poor safety measures as well. There aren't even locks on the classrooms I attend, what happens if a shooter wants access to our rooms? It wouldn't be hard to breech.
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