Since Columbine, Millions Spent On ‘Hardening’ Schools, But That Has Done Little To Ease Fears
Mass shootings at schools remain rare, but the threat of one keeps America in its grips. Experts caution that schools should avoid over-preparing for mass shootings and should instead focus on more typical threats to students’ safety, such as mental health issues and family trauma.
The New York Times:
20 Years After Columbine, Schools Have Gotten Safer. But Fears Have Only Grown.
Present your driver’s license to be scanned and verified. Have your photograph taken. Pass your belongings through a metal detector. Welcome to your child’s school. Twenty years after the Columbine High School shooting, a school visit can feel like going to the airport. See-through backpacks and armed officers are common sights on campus. So are “run, hide, fight” trainings, full of tips on how to survive an active shooter. Some days might bring lockdown drills that students are not told in advance are rehearsals, not real threats. And in rare cases, the adult teaching algebra or social studies might be armed. (Goldstein, 4/20)
The New York Times:
Columbine Survivors Reflect, And Reckon With Specter Of Future Shootings
The survivors walked their children through hallways that had once been filled with violence. This is where we hid from the gunmen, they told their children. That is where the gunmen entered the school, they added. This is how we escaped. Twenty years after two students attacked Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killing 12 of their peers and one teacher and marking the beginning of an era of school threats and mass shootings, Columbine’s survivors are now parents. (Turkewitz, 4/20)
San Jose Mercury News:
Columbine Anniversary: School Shooting Threats Now Routine
San Jose police Sgt. Sean Morgan, one of SJPD’s chief school liaisons for the 10th largest city in the country, said his department receives reports of threats to schools as frequently as three times a week, and on a few occasions twice in a day. Each must be investigated. (Salonga and Savidge, 4/20)
