Trying to Keep Our Students Safe: How Secure Can a School Building or Campus Really Be?

Just between us, gentle readers, I could have smacked CNN anchor Paula Zahn in the nose last evening (April 16, 2007). It was the long evening of a horrendous day, following the massacre of 32 students and the suicide of the lone gunman on the campus of Virginia Teach University. As usual, CNN was right there on the scene, doing their usual brand of 'hysteria' interviews. When witnesses were interviewed and expressed gratitude to university officials and the local and state police for keeping them safe, Zahn, comfortable back in Atlanta, retorted "But arent' you really angry that they let this happen? Don't you feel let down by the lack of security? This is horrible, just a tragic, tragic event." The overall impression of Ms. Zahn's input was that maybe you are still in a state of shock, maybe you are still gathering your wits and your feelings around you, but really now, aren't you honestly just mad as hell that this happened BUT, more importantly, don't you need someone to blame?

There were more than a fair amount of pushy, aggressive, never quite satisfied journalists on the sidelines in the aftermath of the worst mass shooting in American history. Details continue to pour in - the gunman most likely acted alone, he was a South Korean who was a senior English major at VTU, he was here in this country on an alien visa. The students who had been taken to area hospitals in critical condition all were listed as being 'stable' the following morning. This was just a horrible,horrible tragedy,any way that you looked at it - and despite the over the top reporting of CNN's reporters and anchors. As the following day unfolded, those media hyenas were at it again - asking inappropriate, insensitive questions of people who appeared to be in a dazed state of mind. One reporter, a dark-haired gal in a white coat and black gloves, kept turning the subject - no matter whom she was interviewing - to the "Do you feel that the university did enough to keep you safe?" question. Most of the adults she interviewed on Tuesday morning were just savvy enough to avoid answering the question, instead deflecting it back to how glad they were to be alive...

While we all grieve for those young lives cut so tragically short, there is a lesson here, one that I hope we can all learn from.

None of us are ever really, truly safe.

Virginia Tech is a really beautiful campus located in a rural part of Virginia. I lived nearby for four years quite a while ago. The people in Blacksburg were, as they apparently continue to be, very warm, gracious and welcoming. Not only is it part of their nature, it is also driven by their Southern upbringing and the fact that the presence of VT is a great boon to them as well, economically, culturally and socially. It is a win-win situation for everyone associated with VT and Blacksburg.

The VT campus itself is the equivalent of a small to medium sized town itself. The fact that is truly is a warm, caring and friendly environment - that good old Southern hospitality in action - people rarely lock their doors or their cars. It is a community built on trust.

There are 26,000 students currently enrolled at VT. That is a pretty substantial number of people coming and going in the course of the school day. Early signs point to the shooter as a 'loner' who expressed violently antisocial behavior displaying in English and playwriting courses. His works were so over the top that his English professor, in 2005, took it upon herself to conduct a one on one English seminar for him, in an effort to draw him out and look for any signs of where that violence and hatred stemmed. She recommended counseling; apparently he did take some counseling, with unsuccessful results. He signed in for classes listing his name as "?" on the sheet; fellow students called him the question mark guy.

As odd as his behavior, were there other students out there in VT who displayed equally odd, disturbing qualities as well? I found it so painfully ironic that folks on the VT campus - at least administrators - went out of their way to identify him as troubled and to seek help for him. And yet, he went on to commit the worst mass killing in our history. Could anyone have helped him? Was it the school's responsibility to seek him out and obtain counseling services for him? Is there still another student on the campus who displays the same violent tendencies who has somehow slipped through the cracks, someone whom no one has yet noticed - or may very well never notice?

In yet another horrific turn of events, the gunman spent the two hours' time between shootings mailing off a package to NBC News. It contained a video and a lengthy, rambling discourse from him. Both the video and letter were attempts to justify his actions. He likens himself to a martyr such as Jesus Christ - and also to the Columbine shooters.

What's so disturbing about this? Not only does the VT community have to re-live Monday's events, the gunman has also provided himself with a very real platform to ensure his place in history after his death.

We may not be able to locate, track down, identify or get off the streets every certifiable nut job such as Cho. What we can do, however, is refuse to continue any feigned or real interest in his post-death manifesto.

While it's frightening that we really can't keep our students safe on campuses from the elementary to university levels, let's not give any shred of dignity to a serial killer who is scrambling for his place in the history books. My greatest fear right now is that somewhere out there in the proverbial bushes lurks another unbalanced, mentally unstable individual who sees all of the attention Cho has brought upon himself and look to follow his path. Can there by a copycat killer waiting out there? If there is, how on earth can we remove him for his safety but more importantly, our own?

In a country that prides itself on a sense of free spirit, whose very foundation is based on human rights, does it not go against the grain of our very history to question those who are different than ourselves? Upon whose shoulders does the blame for not 'catching' this guy in time really rest?

Think about this for a moment: If he had the wherewithall to actually kill 32 people, how many shots did he have to fire to kill so many? Reports state that each of the victims - and most of the survivors - sustained at least three gunshots to their person. That's an awful lot of ammunition he was able to unload.

Do we now require metal detectors in public buildings, as well as college dorms and classrooms? Has it come down to locking ourselves in to keep out the unknown? Perhaps it has.

Killing that number of people in one building is, sadly, amazing. What's even more amazing and frightening is that he could have started to fire on students walking by, on students in a cafeteria, on students in a parking lot. How can we even begin to think of isolating those areas?

The school district in which we live prides itself on its updated school building security. In order to get into any of the schools, a visitor must ring a bell outside of the front door in order to be admitted by a secretary/receptionist. Once buzzed into the building, a visitor must fill out a sign in sheet and wear the visitors' badge provided for the duration of their stay. Students are taught to report anyone unfamiliar who is not wearing a visitor's badge.

I think this is very admirable. I'm also guessing that it goes on in many, hopefully most, school buildings in this country. I do know that the public schools in neighboring Camden and Philadelphia are under immense security, for differing reasons. It's not so much the visitors that have caused concern (and shootings) in the past; sadly, a number of the students themselves have come to school - elementary, junior/middle, and high schools - bearing guns and weapons. While metal detectors weed out most of the guns and knives, what has arisen is the scenario where the students fight/shoot outside of the buildings themselves.

What has concerned me about the 'heightened' security provided in our small school district is the fact that getting into the buildings themselves is being addressed - but not what could happen outside of the buildings. Nearly all of the schools have open area playgrounds and sports fields. I've observed open building doors in most of the schools from the outside as well, usually after classes and during sports practices and games. What would prevent a determined criminal from coming at the kids from the outside, especially, God forbid, with a gun? What would prevent even a somewhat savvy shooter or rapist from entering a school building by walking right into an open, unsecured, unguarded building door? A high school of 1,400 students has only two security guards; there are no security cameras at present in any of the bathrooms. While our district has been battling an increasing drug use problem, one of the areas addressed has been that of drugs being sold and taken between classes in the bathrooms. Fights, for both boys and girls, have also taken place in the bathroom areas as well. There are no monitors or cameras in those areas yet, despite a growing problem (especially at the high school level).

We cannot keep our students, our children, safe all of the time. Because of the nature of our lifestyles, it is virtually impossible to screen out anyone wishing to do them harm in time to prevent it. The schools are too large, the parents too complacent. The campuses upon which we take such pride are not only large and attractive, they are also tempting as places upon which criminals could easily sneak into. Doors unlocked, no monitoring system, perhaps a security guard is distracted or out for the day - even one of these factors can place our kids in tremendous jeopardy.

We can't fence everybody in, nor can we keep anybody who may harm our children out. In a perfect world, such 'screenings' would exist, but ours is an imperfect world.

What can we do? We can fervently pray that no harm will come to our children; we can support measures that would increase security - approving school budgets that include additional security guards, electronic monitoring, security monitoring, and most of all, fencing that would keep those who are meant to be on the playground or playing field the only ones there. Other than that, we can hope for the best...