Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold went on a school shooting spree in Littleton, Colorado. Their catch phrase became, “Do you believe in God?” (Johnson, 2012). Multiple students were asked this simple question and killed if they answered yes. Harris and Klebold changed education from coast to coast in the United States with the massacre they carried out that morning in April of 1999. Reporters and journalists showed more respect for schools when the idea of school shootings were still very shocking. School shootings have been covered in the news for the past two decades, and they aren’t slowing down anytime soon. The Columbine Massacre is much different than other shootings because it set a path for other school shooters. They saw inspiration in …show more content…
No one was sure how to react; I mean, school shootings were still pretty rare, let alone a shooting with 12 students killed on scene (CNN Library, 2015). Media coverage hasn’t stopped after the Columbine shootings, though. It seems as though every week there is a story about a school shooting on national news channels. Since 2013, 158 school shootings have taken place in the United States (158 School Shootings In America Since 2013, 2015). When I did this math, that number averages out to about one school shooting per week in the U.S. In my opinion, I feel as though this number could be reduced if the number of shootings reported in the news was significantly lower. One of the more recent school shootings at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon, was reported by the media on ABC News just 12 short hours after the police showed up to the scene. The Columbine shooting was also reported within a day of it happening. But since the attacks in Littleton were still a shock to most of the nation, the reports by news anchors seemed more considerate and personal. By the time that the UCC shooting occurred this year, I don’t think any American was shocked over hearing about yet another attack at a school campus. A native of Oregon reported to me that he ‘felt as though the reports on UCC were impersonal to the victims and citizens of Oregon, and that the reports were made public so fast that they …show more content…
I don’t ever remember a time where there weren’t security cameras in school hallways, but apparently before massive school shootings it wasn’t unheard of to be in a school with zero security cameras. Our school has never experienced a shooting, but we are prepared for one just the same as a school that has had one in the past. Many schools go even further than we do here at OHS in their security acts. Two years ago when our school went into lockdown, I was in Geometry class. None of my classmates or myself knew what was going on at the time; we just continued to follow the lesson that Mr. Koepplin was teaching on the board. Our school was somewhat prepared for an event like this to happen. We had black shutters to pull over the window on the doors and emergency bags with supplies in them in each room. Although we probably shouldn’t have continued on with our lesson since we were making noise and we didn’t know where the threatening man was located at in the school building, I didn’t feel that threatened by the whole situation. Our teacher knew how to keep us calm which is what they should be educated on how to do. The man who was a threat to our school was in the elementary portion of our school the entire time, but no one knew this during the lockdown. He had a hit list in mind and it was mostly made up of school staff. Although no one was at all injured in this
The 26 Lives that Changed America On December 14th, 2012 the United States of America broadcasted the third deadliest massacre by one man alone of 26 lives. (Wikipedia) Bullets rang through the halls of Sandy Hook Elementary School that morning, murdering 20 children and 6 adults. Each child had a name, a family, and a future they never got to fulfil. During the aftermath of the Sandy Hook massacre, parents were terrified of the possibility their kid could be next.
Students today live their day-to-day lives in constant fear of what seems inevitable. The United States has one of the highests rates of school shootings in the world. Society has become so desensitized to these shootings that they are no longer shocked to hear about another school falling victim to it. Even when students take a stand against gun violence, the only solution offered to them is a proposition to arm teachers. However, bringing more guns into a school will only further deteriorate the situation.
Of the 52 shootings, 21 have been at colleges and universities, 15 at high schools, three at middle schools, and 10 at elementary schools, two at preschools, and one on a school bus. The youngest death was a 16-year-old boy at Tenaya Middle School. On college campuses, 14 students, three professors, and a university staff member have all died by a gunmen. ”(RT) If teachers had guns they could have stopped most of the deaths or it could of even been 0.
Armed police officers on campuses, tightened control of access to school buildings via identification cards, codes or metal detectors are among the most immediate security measures taken by the administrations right after a mass shooting in a school setting (Jonson, 2017, p. 962). Given years of
When this is known to the violent person they have knowledge of that no one will fight back, schools have to be protected by a safety code, which would let them fight back in order to protect the students. Persons who are violent usually make clear signs before a shooting but
I would like to begin this assignment by formally apologizing for what I caused. I do realize when talking about school terrors in a school setting is a completely unnecessary thing to do. I would like to apologize for all the panic that you must have felt because in your situation you need to take any small thing even relatively a threat seriously. I now understand when in a situation like this I should not hold back my emotions and I should be showing my feelings and sorrows to the victims’ and the victim’s families, not the killers. By having my locker have the word “Columbine” with a heart and “E+D” in it is showing I support the killers to everyone in the school.
Judy Keen explains, "Students crawled, hid and ran in terror from a man dressed in black who appeared from behind a screen at a lecture hall Thursday at a university outside Chicago and blasted students with gunfire before shooting himself in a melee that was over in less than two minutes, school officials said. " This shows this student did not care about the way things would turn out. Teachers should have the right to protect themselves from these kind of
To end the violence, metal detectors should be placed in every public school across America to ensure the safety of the school 's students and staff. Public schools in America have been challenged a lot in the past few years. They have been constantly questioned due to recent school shootings. The most recent tragedy occurred where “seventeen people [were] killed by a gunman [on February 14, 2018] at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida” (Levenson and Sterling).
Jan. 10, a bullet probably fired from off campus hit the window of a building at a college in Southern California. No one was hurt, but students could still have been frightened. Classes were canceled, rooms were locked down and police searched campus for the gunman, who was never found. On Feb. 5, a police officer was sitting on a bench in a Minnesota school gym when a third-grader accidentally pulled the trigger of his holstered pistol, firing a round into the floor.
The gunman entered the elementary school without checking in. EArlier the year the principal required a buzzer for visitors to buzz in order to enter the school so they know who enters. The gunman did not buzz in and “As part of the security system, the school locked its doors each day at 9:30 a.m. The door was locked when the gunman arrived”. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said.
Although this tragedy occurred in Florida, there where many more of us that were affected as well. This shooting opened the public's eyes to the current safety policies in place regarding school shootings. I believe that we should enhance campus security, by placing , metal detectors, and security personnel. When metal detectors are placed, it could detect if there is anything inappropriate in their possession. The California school board association says "Metal detectors are a tool to detect and prevent weapons being brought to school" (Governance and Policy Resources).
In regards to this incident, it might be useful to use information from local authorities as well as ideas from resources by experts. Fein (2002) discusses threats to school on a larger scale with the intent of preventing future attacks from happening. In addition to this resource, training staff on the Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Communicate and Evacuate (ALICE) procedure would be beneficial. If all staff members are trained on this procedure, they might understand their role when responding to a crisis
There has been 215 shootings in America since 2013. Nowadays, kindergarten students prepare for school shooting like it is a thing that we have accepted in society. No to mention, that we are get trained in a this type of situation like how we get trained for a natural disaster. The years before we would only prepare for tornadoes, hurricanes and earthquakes. In like manner, we prepare for school shootings like some natural disaster.
An ongoing study by Washington Post has found that more than 150,000 students in at least 170 elementary and middle schools have experienced a shooting on their school’s campus since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. With plans set in place for potential shooters, the overall safety of schools will be greatly improved. After solving problems having to do with people and their actions, the other safety problems will be mainly related to natural events such as tornadoes, fires, and earthquakes, which can´t be controlled. We need plans in place for the events that can be prevented! From PsychLaw Journal, the odds of a shooting happening at a high school are 1 in 21,000.
It is not possible for schools to have adequate security or protocol in place to address major attacks of violence. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, there were never more than nine school shootings in one academic year, but these numbers are increasing. However the school security only is getting better, showing it is impossible to secure every school perfectly. In 1999, the Columbine shooting had a security system, video footage, and armed guards at the buildings. This still did not protect the school from weapons entering the buildings and violence from occurring.