“Preventing School Shootings: The Effectiveness of
Safety Measures” Journal Review
The article “Preventing School Shootings: The Effectiveness of Safety Measures” was written by Cheryl Lero Johnson. She is an assistant professor in the criminal justice department at Xavier University. Most of her work focus on mass shooting, policing theory, active hooting responses, and correctional theory. This article focus on school shooting violence experienced in the United States. School shooting cases have been on the rise, the United States recording the highest rate of school shooting cases. The school shooting is a violent act where shooting takes place in an educational institution. The increase in the rate of this kind of violence and the need for finding ways to curb the increasing rate has motivated researchers to research methods of preventing a school shooting. In this article, the author provides an overview of various school shooing incidences in the United States, how school shooting has impacted society, and various measures that should be taken to prevent the increase in the school shooting. The author also insists on the need for making use of the evidence-based approach to promote the safety of schools.
In this article, the author begins by providing the school shooting events that have occurred in the united states since 1999. Columbine High School Massacre, Sandy Hooks elementary school, and Virginia technical propelled concern about school shooting into the national spotlight. Columbine high school massacre took place in 1999 when two seniors, who were dressed in black trench coats, entered the school while armed. They killed one teacher and twelve students, and also injured any pupil. This event affected most students, educators, and parents who felt that schools were no safer place. The next major school shooting event took place on 16th April 2007, which was eight years after the Columbine incidence. This inhumane act on school shooting took place in Virginia technical institute where Seung-Hui Cho, a senior student, murdered thirty-two students and five professors using two handguns. Virginia technical institute massacre was the deadliest mass school shooting in the United States during that time. The next massacre that got the word attention in the United States was the Sandy Hook Elementary school massacre. This massacre was conducted by a twenty-year-old man five and a half years after the Virginia institute massacre. The shooter entered the school wearing a vest filled with ammunition killing six teachers and twenty children. The author uses this account since they were the major school shooting incidents that led to the cumulative loss of seventy-one innocent lives.
The author says that between 1999 and 2012, there have been numerous school shootings incidents, but these three incidences captured the attention of the nation. These events affected the education system of the nation, where schools were no longer safer places. Students and teachers lived in fear of the events happening again. She goes on to provide an account of how these school shootings propelled into the nationwide spotlight. After the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, the media coverage had increased hence spreading the fear at a higher rate. The majority of United States citizens spent more time on internet and television news coverage, with approximately 90% reporting to closely following the developing story. That month the New York Times published approximately one hundred different articles covering the developing concern on school shootings. The author provides statistics on the impact of the school shooting in these three major mass school shootings incident. One of the outcomes spoken about that resulted from the massacre is the fear of parents sending their children to school. Fifty-five percent of parents reported fearing to send their children to school after the Columbine massacre. After the Virginia massacre, 35% feared to send children to school but later dropped to 25%. Finally, 33% feared to send children to school after the San Hook Elementary massacre. Through this media attention on school shootings led to the demands on the creation of preventive measures to be taken in preventing the increase in school shooting violence.
In the article, the author provides a useful measure that should be taken to prevent a school shooting. The first measure contained in the article is policing our schools. She states that most of the measures on school shootings are based on crime prevention theory. One security measure taken on policing schools is implementing the use of school resource officers and private security. The time takes to respond to a school shooting threat determines the number of casualties. The author believes that since private security and school resource officers are present, it is an appealing measure in responding to the prevention of school shootings. Private security situated in the school compound will be able to respond faster. Policing schools also help by the security personnel preventing the entry of firearms in school compounds using inspection at the entrance. The access control by the security personnel help avoid crime school through screening of visitors for weapons and identifying the person entering the school.
Installation of metal detectors at the entrance, this is another measure the author focuses on. This type of measure is appealing and provides a sense of security. Security personnel is able to detect any form of the weapon when students and visitors are entering the school compound. A metal detector was commonly used in urban areas and schools located in urban areas. Due to the increasing concern on the school shooting, most schools are implementing this measure in preventing the admittance of firearms or other weapons in the education institution compound. About ten percent of schools in the United States have their students pass through a metal detector on a daily basis. Research shows that about 8% of schools perform the random inspection using metal detector regularly, which discourage students from carrying a weapon to school.
The author argues that even in strong security measures, there are loopholes. Therefore, she provides an alternative way when all measure fails. She argues that a security officer cannot be in all places at a time, and even powerful metal detectors can be bypassed. Metal detectors and employing private security providers are an appealing security measure to prevent a school shooting. Therefore, when all fails, what are the other essential measure to be taken? This is one of the questions posed in the article where the author responds y providing an alternative of a preventive measure. Traditional lockdown is one of the alternative measures to take when a school shootout takes place. Traditional lockdown involves preventive measures such as: switching off the light, locking and staying away from doors and windows, staying low to the ground, and remaining silent until help arrives. It is one measure that can be used by the people involved, but the author also believes that it is not always effective. She argues that not all school shooting take place on are that traditional lockdown can be applicable. This leads to the desire of the multi-response measure. A multi-response measure involves various responses toward a threat where people are trained on various ways to encounter a complex threat. Some schools have established advisory programs on how to respond to the threat. In a multi-response measure, the person is given an alternative of protecting him/herself when all the other possible alternatives are not applicable.
According to Cheryl Jonson, school shooting is a type of violence that need to be seriously considered and implementing efficiency measures to help prevent it. Although mass school shootings incidences are rare, they claim the lives of innocent people in regions where security and safety should be guaranteed. Since the major school shooting event in Columbine, Virginia technical institute and Sandy Hook Elementary made the nation headline, security measure had been implanted. The only thing that is lacking is the research that examines its effectiveness in preventing a school shooting. Implementing security measures such as advanced metal detection systems and employing a school resource officer is an expensive measure. The author recommends the need for having an evidence-based action. I believe the author’s argument has validity since a lot has to be done to ensure the prevention of school shooting incidence repetition.