With the recent school shooting at Parkland High School in Florida, creating another cycle of death, mourning and debating, there is no question that action needs to happen and this does not mean gun control. Perhaps a more radical approach in security needs to be considered.
Unfortunately, school shootings have become a part of American culture and other countries are beginning to identify the United States with these tragedies because this does not happen anywhere else in the world.
Second to fixing mental health problems, banning guns is the most wasteful argument on either side one can have. It is either someone is infringing on rights or they sound like someone who just trying to “push the liberal agenda.”
It is a repetitive argument, but there is no way of stopping people from accessing weapons.
The reason why schools are often targets for shootings and bombings is because they are so vulnerable from the outside. While a lot of schools have security systems, they are often not efficient enough to stop at least several deaths depending on the situation.
“We’ve got the people prepared, we have prepared the campuses, but sometimes people still find a way to let these horrific things happen,” Parkland School Board member Donna Korn said days after the shooting.
There is virtually no point in only protecting schools particularly when someone can still easily come in. Districts might as well not have any measures at all if police have to show up more than 10 minutes later and then possibly fail as they did in Parkland. The minute someone breaks in, half the battle is already lost.
The reason why no one wants to break into any government building to kill people is because it is so well guarded and there are measures to ensure that person will not escape.
This does not mean schools need snipers on the rooftop but a fence and manned security at the entrance with metal detectors would definitely give tempting intruders second thoughts. Protecting from the inside for extreme cases is also practical.
The National Broadcasting Company covered an Indiana high school where the security system is nearly flawless with bulletproof doors, a real time camera system that is connected to the police department, smoke alarms in the hallways and each teacher having a panic button.
This method combined with a “no breaking in” method will make schools much safer and then no one’s precious gun has to be taken from them.
Now one may argue that such measures will make students, staff and parents live in a fearful environment especially at the elementary level. As we know from Sandy Hook, no age is immune from school shootings and this is the awful reality we live in.
Some other concerns are cost and manpower. These two factors are what make such security measures into almost unrealistic territory. Some funding that go to school districts would have to go to such a system especially in districts where money and resources is tight as it.
If schools want to make safety their number one priority, then districts, counties, possibly even states have to take matters into their own hands because the federal government will clearly not budge.
Students and teachers are already taking action with boycotts and protests as they should. While some of their points about gun control are misguided, it is smart for them to act immediately because these shootings are occurring too often.
There is no point in learning anything if they either die or have a stricken fear of dying in what is supposed to be a safe environment.
In the same way, people take extreme measures by harming others, society must fight back in extreme measures as well by making schools nearly impenetrable because gun laws will either not pass or will not be enough.
By DREW LACOUTURE
Editorial editor
Featured photo: Activists and students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School attend a gun control rally at the Florida State Capitol building (Don Juan Moore/Getty Images).