Safety and Security In Schools

By Dashiell Sims

Every day, 16 schools go through a lockdown, and 227 people are injured or killed inschool shootings each year. That means every week on average, about 4 people are shot in school shootings every week, according to a 2018 analysis by the Washington Post. Here's the deal with school safety, what people think about it, and how it relates to our school. 

This year, students and staff at MS447 evacuated from a non-credible bomb threat. It put us on edge, especially because both the students and teachers did not know why we were evacuating. It would be good to know about how the evacuation procedure works. To discover the protocols for emergencies, one of our security guards, named Agent Ferdilus, provided the rundown. “Well if there's a lockdown, we have to make sure that everyone is in their place, that the doors are locked, and that the students are inside where they belong. And also to notify law enforcement and get help. So if there's something going on we will be able to get help for you.” However, would it be helpful if we were in touch with our guardians? 

Ms. Rusch doesn't think so. “You know it's so interesting because we find it’s much, much, much easier to manage emergencies when students don't all have their phones out. Although sometimes parents and kids get nervous, if they don’t have access to their phones, it’s actually much safer because it allows us to get everybody out quickly without them all being on their phones doing their own thing.” (People who have their phones out of their pouches let everyone in their contact list know about the emergency, and then rumors and panic spreads.)

In a school district with over one million students, which is the largest school 

district (by population) in the USA, this makes school safety important. Ms Rusch believes that, because we are more aware and practice more, we are better prepared. Also, because we have stricter gun control laws, so school shootings happen less often. 

According to a government data analysis in 2020 by the Government Accountability Office, over the past 9 years, out of a total of 312(!) school shootings, there have only been 28 in the northeast of the country (where New York is.) However, on the flip side of the coin, a CNN analysis published in 2018 found that, since 2009, the United States has had about 57 times as many school shootings as Canada, Japan, Germany, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom combined. With all these shootings, school safety, and lockdowns (Drill or otherwise) have become more common.

One of the most memorable events that Ms. Rusch remembered from her time here at 

MS447 was not even purposefully caused! There was a fire that scorched the auditorium and the students and staff had to evacuate, and not come back to school until the next day. 

Lockdown procedures help the school train for real lockdowns, and the same goes for fire drills and fires. While everybody hopes that the skill will not be needed, it’s still important to know how to be safe if these events really happen.