I am frustrated that people move so quickly into partisan talking points. I am frustrated that mass shootings in schools have become so common that instead of prompting wall-to-wall coverage on cable news, they are just another news story. I have been asked several times what my thoughts are about what happened two weeks ago in Oxford. It is time we take a serious look at ourselves as a society and start deciding what type of environment we want for raising our children.Īs a retired teacher, my heart breaks for the students and teachers still in our schools. Our responses as a society have been to keep “hardening” our school campuses.
#TYPES OF GUNS USED IN SCHOOL SHOOTINGS HOW TO#
Eventually, after each event, nothing was done.Īre we always going to be reactive to the latest school shooting? Or at some point do we become proactive and try and figure out how to break the cycle of gun violence in our schools? Do we want our children entering school as if it was a fortress, with bullet-proof doors and windows, metal detectors at the entrances, and students and visitors searched as they come inside? What about after-school events? Concerts, plays, and athletic events? Do these become closed to the public? Do we have to start increasing security to get into every sporting event, concert, and honors assembly? Unfortunately, as time passes, the passion to make changes dissipates. There was time for that after the mourning. People said we should be focusing on the victims and it was not the time to discuss new legislation. Over the years, after each school shooting, there was a huge outcry for new gun legislation. Otherwise, as Oakland County, Michigan, Sheriff Michael Bouchard said, “there would have been even more deaths” on Nov. Fortunately, students and staff of Oxford High School were well trained in how to respond to an active shooter. Over the next few years, we spent millions of dollars to redesign school offices so that parents and visitors were kept on the other side of bullet-proof glass until they showed photo ID and were buzzed inside.Īfter Parkland, the training of students and staff was stepped up with active-shooter drills. As soon as the students were in, all doors were locked. The school doors were only opened at the beginning of the day. The response of most districts was to “harden” the entrances to all our schools. Somehow it didn’t seem possible that a mass shooting could occur at a school where kids were so little. I was horrified at the violence happening in an elementary school. I watched the chaos at Sandy Hook while checking the news during a prep period. The teachers were given “codes” that would be announced over the public-address system so we could tell if it was a drill or a real situation. Over the next few years, we trained students in evacuation and lockdown drills. After Columbine, copycat threats came, and I remember for the first time having to evacuate the school. Prior to Columbine, we only had tornado and fire drills.