2020 and 2021: two years of rapid changes that affected everyone. From pandemics to protests, those two years forced everyone to readapt to their everyday lives. Unfortunately, in the midst of the changes, new worries about shootings have sprouted in the country's mind, especially for the children in classrooms. From 2020-2021, there have been 93 school shootings in the United States, and so far in 2022 there have been 27 (National Center for Education Statistics). With these record breaking numbers, schools across the United States are focusing their time and money on security to stop these tragedies before they occur. Even though studies will show that these security advances don’t do much to actually protect the children that have developed new fears regarding their safety at school.
With the security industry for schools revenue reaching 3.1 billion in 2021, schools across the country are taking precautions to protect their students, whether it be metal detectors, armed officers on campus, or clear backpacks, students are having to deal with the adaptation to these security advances. In Texas, the second largest school district in the state (Dallas Independent School District), students from grades 6-12th will be required to wear clear backpacks to school, with no exceptions (CNN). Other schools in the Bay Area and Texas are having armed guards/patrols on or around campuses. Some schools are taking more crucial precautions, such as the schools in Lakeville, Minnesota that have placed buttons in classes that will automatically text emergency dispatchers once pressed, and will activate 1,200 pounds of magnetic force that will keep doors sealed shut (TIME). Along with that the school district has also decided to have panels installed in the walls of classrooms that are able to stop bullets from entering (TIME). Another school in Georgia had a new security system installed, spending $5 million on a program called “Alert Point”, that “went haywire, sending false alarms to schools across one of the nation’s largest districts, causing lockdowns and frightening students” (NYT).
Along with systems going haywire, false alarms are one of the biggest holdbacks when it comes to new security systems in schools. Evolv Technology, a security system being used in North Carolina that scans bags for magnetic fields around guns/concealed weapons, has been set off several times due to everyday student items such as laptops, metal water bottles, spiral notebooks, and three-ring binders (NYT), causing students to have to remove all of these items from their bags before walking through the scanner.
With these false alarm set backs, studies are questioning whether or not these security advances are doing anything to actually protect students across the nation. Studies done by the Journal of the American Medical System shows that there is no direct correlation between having armed guards on campus and reductions of injuries during a shooting. The studies actually showed that the number of injuries was greater when armed guards were on campus: “The rate of deaths was 2.83 times greater in schools with an armed guard present” (Journal of the American Medical System). Studies done by The Journal of Adolescent Health shows that when schools increase the number of security cameras on campus, it leads to students feeling lower levels of safety on campus, along with feeling as if they are being viewed as “potential perpetrators''. In an interview with CNBC, the president of National School Safety and Security Services, stated that, “We’ve gone into schools where they’ve had a one-time shot-in-the-arm funding through a grant or a school board allocation for putting in additional cameras, for example, and we go in three or four years later, the cameras aren’t working”. This is a common case with many schools; after a few years, the equipment/precautions being placed are disregarded or unkept up with, leading to funding being wasted, and students safety still being at risk.
When it comes to student safety, it's still unclear if all security precautions being placed across the nation are going to actually keep students safe and at peace. But with every passing year it's clear that school districts have to prioritize stopping these crimes before they occur, not how to stop them once they’ve already begun. Whether that be through security systems, or rallying for stricter gun laws, it's up to school advisors to find a way to ensure that students feel safe while getting an education.
Cover photo courtesy of smartsecuritypros.com
Gabriella Munoz is a staff writer and editor for The Lion's Roar. You can learn more information about the writer by clicking here.
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