Dave
Sherman, principal of South Park (IL) Elementary, sparked a lot of
conversation at LeaderTalk with his post about
school change and school safety. He has extended that discussion to his own
blog, asking
these key questions:
Are we just paranoid that something bad may happen in our schools because
there have been a handful of school shootings in the last decade? Should we stop
all this security talk? As I write this, I am preparing for our very first lock
down drill with our students (see previous post). Is it all a waste of
time?
Visit
Dave’s blog and let him know what you think!
I think the prevailing thinking among students at my school is that lockdowns do more to create fear than they do to promote a sense of safety. In a sense, the school is “tipping their hand” to a potential shooter, almost like teaching fire which areas of the school are most condusive to spreading flames quickly.
In the event of a shooting or similar event, all bets are off. That’s what makes a lockdown fundamentally different from a tornado or fire drill. There are guaranteed ways to keep safe from those things, but a desperate human isn’t so predictable.
Scott,
Thanks for mentioning my blog here. I have been surprised by the number of people who think we schools are going overboard with school security. I would have thought the opposite. I imagine that there are more parents in favor of tighter security than those who oppose it.
Dave
Dave, I think it’s because it’s a low-frequency, low-impact (but high-profile) issue. We ignore the statistics that show that schools are safer than ever before, we ignore the fact that these incidents are random (in the sense that there’s no way to know when or where the next one will occur), and we let ourselves just be afraid. I want to live in a country that’s brave, not one that cowers. That doesn’t mean that schools shouldn’t take precautions, but we shouldn’t go overboard and we shouldn’t create false bogeymen to scare the bejeezus out of students and parents.
See:
http://tinyurl.com/3499ze
http://tinyurl.com/2mhcgk
http://tinyurl.com/2wmukf
http://tinyurl.com/3d5thm
http://tinyurl.com/3x9wjq
Hmm, I commented on Dave’s blog. I feel like the only one who finds some benefit in doing these drills. Am I the only one around who has been in an actual lock down?
Dave and Scott,
As a high school administrator, I can see the benefits of lock-down drills. I’m not sure if they would ever protect a single life, but they are a key political exercise for principals and superintendents.
On security, our school has just procured a high-tech “security” system complete with 57 cameras in and out of the building and a visitor management system; all guests in the building must have a photo ID scanned into our database (where I can now cross reference their names and driver’s license with a national sex offender database), and a bar-coded label prints out for wearing. It is high-tech and one of a kind (local news has been covering our security procedures). Our faculty and students also now wear “smart cards” that alow access into four portals of the building, keep track of who came in when and where, and this card is also used to access bathrooms during the day. It’s a lot. But, as my superintendent says, “It’s a smoke and mirrors game – the more we look secure, the more they feel secure.” He is a good man who knows that these hysterical times call for quick response, although these responses are expensive.
Do I agree with security measures and lock-downs, drills, emergency mapping, and first-response education? I suppose I had better agree with them if I have to ever answer for a tragedy in my building.
Mike, thank you for your thoughtful comment. This is exactly what I’m talking about, though. We’re trying to buy a security that will never exist. If you haven’t, I encourage you to visit the links above from my earlier comment. It’s very hard not to feel like we’re wasting money that could be better spent elsewhere. We’re supposed to be data-driven in schools, right? The data do not support most of these security measures…