School shootings. Ideas on how to reduce the damage?

[cmhbob]

All it takes is one bad teacher to ruin the armed teacher idea. I think full time LEO's in addition to the security like SMS mentioned is the best idea.

All it takes is one bad LEO to ruin the idea....

Cops kill the wrong person sometimes. That doesn't cause us to change police work much.

Cops are killed with their own weapons sometimes. We increase training to deal with that. Then again, the armed teacher is not going to be wrestling with a gunman. It'd be more like an armed pilot.........

 

[Murph]

I'm sure someone has mentioned this but the first step is to remove easy prey policy. The more places a psycho or even a thief has to be scared, the better for society as a whole. If I was a parent I don't think I could comply with a no weapons policy, if discretion was a plausible alternative. That has been discussed to death so here is my kinda original idea.
Restructure the educational system. One of the reasons these atrocities are possible is that a school is a target rich environment. Public education was set up on the 'factory' model. Groups of people leave their homes and gather at specified locations. They work at various activities for specified times, with changes signalled with a bell or horn. At the end of the day they disperse back to their homes. This model has been antiquated for 50 years. The assembly job has been outsourced to India, or Taiwan. Our school systems fail to prepare kids for the realities of daily life. Even if you work a 9 to 5 job, you don't have to get permission to go to the bathroom, or grab a snack, or any of a 101 actions we squeeze into our days in and around the work we are being paid for. The fact is distance learning is a trivial exercise with our current technology. And please none of these are meant to be 100% statements, there are always edge cases, but the majority of students might benefit from the change. I already see some possible problems that I am having trouble articulating, what do you think?

 

[aeropb]

Control who gets in and who gets out like a jail.

 

[OKCShooter]

When was the last time you heard of a homeschool shooting?

Unfortunately, there are domestic shootings all the time.

 

[beast1989]

Every visitor must be forced to come through a single point of entry like the front office. At least one person in that front office should have access to a weapon and an alert button. With a gunman in the school it wouldnt be wise for teachers trying to run to a gun room because it exposes them and leaves their students potentially unattended. Any arms would have to be located in a class by class basis.

In the end I think it comes down to having a single point of entry for visitors and an alarm that alerts the school to lock down.

 

[aeropb]

Good stuff Murph

 

[tran]

Nobody gets into Yukon High School without an ID. This is a good start.
1. I think the schools should run drills, just like they do for tornadoes.
2. Teachers should be trained and allowed to have guns at school.
3. The school should have a game plan and have a group of teachers who are willing and ready to fight off an attacker.
They should keep a gun locker with guns that will stop the attacker for this group.
4. Have a plan for your kid. Teach your kid that iy is his job to survive. The teacher may not always know what is best.

I can agree with all the above!

 

[Biggsly]

biggsly , you need to check gym, cafeteria doors ,or any other exit points they are always open or a student will open the door for you. yukon h s is not secure because of id's.. many of the staff and students dont carry id's. security is very relaxed

I think IDs is just a start. Doors need to be break proof and bullet proof. Nothing will ever stop a shooting from starting and there is no way to save everyone, but we need to be able to stop it.

 

[dennishoddy]

Agreed... but that is also in a country with mandatory military service, that has been in open armed conflict of one type or another for decades with neighboring countries. Unfortunately, I think most of the sheeple in the US would freak at the thought of that kind of security around their poor little fragile children.

The Swiss have mandatory military service. They have one of the lowest crime rates of any country.

Here is another alternative. Its not the answer, but might make one think:

 

[Okie4570]

This is a major frustration I've had for quite sometime. I carry everywhere that I legally can. I'm fortunate to teach in the same school where my kids attend, and of course, zero carry ability while there. Hiding, running, drills, locks, cameras and 911 calls aren't sufficient answers to an active shooter. Prevention may be almost impossible, as Friday was, but making an attempt to take out the perp is something that's needed. Would all teachers/staff be capable of handling this situation, no, but having someone in the building who can would be an incredible asset.