Got Metal Detectors?

[BlessedLife]

Originally Posted by fred44

Who has metal detectors at the entrance of your school?

I brought this up to our principal, he said it would be expensive, but also difficult to implement when 1500 kids are coming into school at the same time in the morning. I say BS. Perhaps the logistics needs to be thought out, but it can be done.

If you have metal detectors, how has it worked out, has it changed the culture of your school, and are their problems getting everyone in during the morning rush?

I think they are a necessity. Most school shooters simply enter through the front door with a backpack full of weapons. Drills are great, maybe, they will prevent some deaths, but even one death is too many. Keeping guns out of school is a much better idea.

Considering the number of people I know who have gotten through TSA screenings at airports with large and potentially harmful pocket knives/ Swiss army knives/ hunting knives.... I'm not really thinking this is much of a solution. It feels good to talk about for a little while but really how much would metal detectors deter those intent on causing harm?

[TerraDown]

The best school security system in the US. I saw a piece on this last night on the news. Very interesting. Expensive? Comes in at just under half a million.
But what is a child's life worth? I usually don't watch the video, but this one is good.

The safest school in america

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by newtovenice

They've all been in VERY affluent, suburban areas. Interesting, isn't it. Parkland is a VERY wealthy community. Sandy Hook was a wealthy community. Columbine was a .... well, you get the picture.

Never inner city, never poor and mostly white.

Originally Posted by redguard57

It makes sense in a way. The inner city and poor districts already deal with violence in a number of ways that doesn't make the news at all.

When bad things happen to pretty, affluent people, the media and public tend to care more.

Inner city schools probably have shootings or other mayhem every day, it just doesn't make the news. A couple weeks ago my former system had a shooting related to an attempted robbery at dismissal and a gang related beat down and stabbing the next day at a different high school. Both were one day stories.

Back to the metal detectors. Some school systems have had them for decades, New York City and Detroit come to mind, but, like it or not, it all comes down to cost and risk assessment.

When they were considered for the rural, middle class school I taught at for 25 years the estimate was north of $300K to install them. Multiply that by 180 schools in the system. The decision at that time was to increase school based security officers.

We eventually started to limit access and lock all exterior doors and funnel everyone to the front entrance. That was problematic because we had so many (up to two dozen at one time) temporary classrooms which students were constantly going to.

And yes, over those 25 years I was at that school we confiscated our share of weapons, including guns. In almost every case the offender was reported by another student.

[Ivorytickler]

Originally Posted by fred44

Who has metal detectors at the entrance of your school?

I brought this up to our principal, he said it would be expensive, but also difficult to implement when 1500 kids are coming into school at the same time in the morning. I say BS. Perhaps the logistics needs to be thought out, but it can be done.

If you have metal detectors, how has it worked out, has it changed the culture of your school, and are their problems getting everyone in during the morning rush?

I think they are a necessity. Most school shooters simply enter through the front door with a backpack full of weapons. Drills are great, maybe, they will prevent some deaths, but even one death is too many. Keeping guns out of school is a much better idea.

None of the schools I've worked in or that my kids went to had metal detectors. I've never even interviewed at a school with metal detectors and I've interviewed in Detroit.