America's Schools - Are They Safe?

Recent School Shootings Cause Parents Anxiety

Clearly one of the most critical issues facing our public schools today is that of student safety. Incidents such as those at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado in 1999 and the more recent shootings at Red Lake High School in Red Lake, Minnesota, cause many parents to openly question the safety of their children while in the public school setting.

Violent incidents such as these make it clear that crisis plans incorporating code phrases and lock down practices are no longer simply confined to big, inner city schools. Within most schools today, such plans have been formulated and rehearsed so as to prepare students and staff for the possibility of an emergency. In addition, requisite school equipment for administrators now includes a gym bag stocked with a bullhorn, a cell phone, walkie-talkies, building floor plans and up to date student and staff lists.

These shootings cause many communities to consider the installation of a metal detector at the main entrance of their school building. Other considerations that come to mind include bringing in drug and bomb sniffing dogs on a semi-regular basis to check student lockers even as other communities have already hired a police officer to maintain a presence at the campus and in the building hallways.

These horrific shootings, along with the need for such emergency plans, have caused the public to ask, "Are our schools safe?" The answer to that question is actually a resounding yes. Statistically speaking, the safest place in our society today for school age children is in school.