“Four Pennsylvania students were charged in plotting an attack on their high school on the 25th anniversary of the Columbine massacre on April 20, 2024, according to a statement from the Lackawanna District Attorney’s Office.”
Sahar Akbarzai, CNN
“I want to begin by saying that Hillary and I are profoundly shocked and saddened by the tragedy today in Littleton” In 1999, Bill Clinton addressed the nation about events that happened earlier that day regarding two teenage boys in a small town in Colorado. The country didn’t know then that the perpetrator’s crimes would lead to changes in school safety.
On April 20th, 1999, a 17-year-old boy named Dylan Klebold and his 18-year-old friend Eric Harris entered Columbine high school with four different firearms and over four dozen different explosive devices. In less than an hour, 12 students, excluding the perpetrators, and one teacher would be dead, with over four others wounded. According to Alisha Bashore, a survivor of the massacre, many of the survivors and their families have “Wounds that won’t heal.” according to Alisha Bashore, a survivor of the massacre.
“Compassion is the greatest form of love humans have to offer,” said Darell Scott, father of Rachel Scott, one of the first victims of the Columbine Massacre. In the aftermath of their daughter’s death, Scott and his wife Sandy created Rachel’s Challenge. It is a non-profit, non-religious, non-political organization focused on reducing school-related violence. The two have traveled to different schools to speak to students about school violence, bullying, and suicide. They do this by showing footage and news reports from the shooting and its aftermath, in addition to excerpts from Rachel’s journal.
On the tenth anniversary of his daughter’s death, Scott would go on NBC’s Today Show to say, “We’ve seen a lot of lives changed from her story and our program. Rachel’s Challenge has touched 13 million lives over the past ten years.”
In those ten years, there have been over 60 reported school shootings in the United States alone. Because of how common these types of events have become, schools have implemented protocols for these situations.
“Schools were the hub of the neighborhood. They were an open place. They were supposed to be inviting.” Dr. Michael A. Wanko, the current superintendent of Bayonne Schools, said. Wanko called the different security measures’ ‘mind-boggling.’
School funding has been spent on the bulletproof glass on windows, hiring more security officers, adding CCTV cameras, and placing metal detectors in main entryways. Others have replaced doors with ones that lock automatically when closed. Wanko would call these ‘mind-boggling.’
“There’s never enough safety protocols. We can always do better, but I’m glad that we have been implementing them in the past few years,” Sophomore teacher Thania Robles said,” Even though it’s pretty sad that they have to be implemented.”
Lockdown and active shooter drills have become an everyday practice throughout the country. In places like Rolla, Missouri, these drills are required to happen at least once in the school year. They include armed officers strolling the halls, students running, and others pretending to be injured or dead.
During these drills, the school is placed on lockdown, something that has previously been practiced but has been occurring more and more often.
“I think that lockdowns are reasonable because it teaches kids about safety precautions and what they need to go through. They need to know how to, you know, stay safe.” Student Itzel Tovar said.
On occasion, schools are placed in lockdown due to a student or facility member making a threat. Many schools encourage students to report any violent or nonviolent threat they may overhear or have been told. The FBI recognizes that many shooters reveal their plans to their friends. This is known as leakage.
“I would definitely report them because they’re still a threat. If you report it, you could save lives. You could stop something from happening before it ever happens.” Student Mariana Castillo believes that even if somebody is close to someone, such as their friend or family member, they are still a threat if they say something threatening.
In 2007, Harrold Independent School District in Wilbarger County, Texas, began to arm its teachers and other faculty members with handguns. The selected employees must go through training, require a license before carrying, and pass psychological tests.
Junior Class President Winston Garza says that while it could be a good idea for teachers to carry, it’s not necessary. In his personal beliefs, he believes that teachers shouldn’t carry firearms because this is what we have security and police officers for. If they do their job correctly, there won’t be a need for any more safety precautions.
“The protocols should probably be reinforced since there is still a lot of school shootings monthly.” Mia ‘Onyx’ Mendoza said. “I think the protocols are a good thing because they can prevent a possible shooting and hopefully discourage students from doing those malevolent things.”