Listening to today’s news about a new school shooting tragedy I decided to revise a piece I wrote after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting and post it again today. It certainly appears that all schools need full time protection. But I am not advocating locking everything down or having a crew of armed police just inside the school door. I think there is a better, less extreme way to protect any school. Please read my suggestions below.
In these times when so many people have guns and so many schools are vulnerable to attacks like the one in Florida, it seems clear that any large school needs a full time Security Guard. Such a guard is necessary not only to confront any invader, but also to be familiar with students and teachers and gain their trust. In addition, principals, teachers, and students need to learn how to recognize anyone who might attempt to attack the school and the importance of alerting the guard.
The intelligence, persistence and likability of a Security Guard are extremely important. He or she would need those qualities to be the one who hears about any threats to a school’s safety, investigates them, informs and advises the principal, alerts the local police department, and perhaps, if others are slow to respond, takes action. Yes, it is a big job, but a guard is the one most qualified to do it.
When you look at the history of school attacks over the years, you will see that some students were aware of the others at school who were angry or depressed and might become dangerous. Although most attackers appear to be ordinary people on the outside, inside they are deeply damaged and willing to sacrifice their lives and the lives of others who happen to be handy. Many of them are also willing to reveal their feelings, and even their intentions, to family members or friends at school just as Nicolas Cruz did. When that happens those who are aware of possible dangers would be inclined to tell what they know to an adult who they trust and believe is the most capable person to protect them. I see that person as the school guard.
In preparing to write about my views of a school tragedy and how it might best be averted in the future, I did some research on attacks in schools in the past. The article that I found most informative described school shootings that took place over the past two centuries and the present one so far. Not only did it list how many people were killed or injured each time, it also made clear the shooters’ motivations and their willingness to die rather than “forgive and forget”. The title of the article is “List of School Shootings in the United States” and it can be found under:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States
The Treasure Hunter 
Back in the day I was in an elementary building in a high crime neighborhood. I’ve already said we had three real lock downs the last year I was there. The district did put a secruity guard in for some of the time. Those were the times we actually felt safe. So I think you are going in the right direction. It’s sad that this is becoming a necessary part of school life. But that is today’s reality.
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