Commander Riker Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I was just curious if there are any other members on the forums that work in education. Noticing a scary trend in this country in regards to "safety and schools." Today, I witnessed an intruder drill that was more like a prison lockdown. In light of recent, yet somewhat ongoing school violence, I wanted to get the opinions of others who may also work in the field and what they thought would help. It ranges for different schools... some have nothing... some have Officers and/or metal detectors, etc. One school here in Texas even has RFID badges that the students are required to wear. Overly, I'm saddened that we have to think like this in today's age... about the security of innocent kids from deranged persons. This isn't a pro/anti gun thread. Militarizing our schools I think is going to have a negative psychological affect on the young ones, and ultimately on society. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon35T Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 “For years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?”― Anne Graham 1 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfishing3 Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Wife's a teacher, In a different district then we live so I'm able to discuss 2 schools somewhat well Get Erik in here, he's opinions would be helpful for you 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Riker Posted January 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 Religion has many good morals in their story books. However, we can have good morals without religion. Schools are a place where all students come from multiple backgrounds to learn, and while I'm not opposed to them learning about the aspects of a religion or related good moral values, the implication that the problems today are due to a "lack of god in schools" is rather insulting. Learning is not equal to indoctrination. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon35T Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 (edited) "the implication that the problems today are due to a "lack of god in schools" is rather insulting." - That's not the implication at all actually. Reread the quote. Taking religion out of the equation I'm mostly concerned with the abandonment of morals. And, as you said, "Religion has many good morals in their story books" I'm still involved in eduction but it's the education of soldiers so it's not really fair for me to speak on public school items directly. From my perspective I CAN say that the quality of young soldiers coming out of our public educational system is shockingly poor. I shouldn't have to work so hard to get them to understand things they already are supposed to. Edited January 24, 2013 by Gideon35T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Moo Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I don't work in a school, but I'm at my kid's school all the time. Up until last month we could walk right in, now there's a buzzer with a camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Riker Posted January 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 "the implication that the problems today are due to a "lack of god in schools" is rather insulting." - That's not the implication at all actually. Reread the quote. Taking religion out of the equation I'm mostly concerned with the abandonment of morals. And, as you said, "Religion has many good morals in their story books" I'm still involved in eduction but it's the education of soldiers so it's not really fair for me to speak on public school items directly. From my perspective I CAN say that the quality of young soldiers coming out of our public educational system is shockingly poor. I shouldn't have to work so hard to get them to understand things they already are supposed to. You missed the part about morals exist without religion.... oh and how this is related to security. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikS Posted January 24, 2013 Report Share Posted January 24, 2013 I have worked pretty much every type of job in education. Believe it or not, its actually about money, insurance, and risk. The cost of the extra security is far less than the costs associated with insurance payouts for a school being found responsible for the death of a child, or harm done by physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. The safety of having things that reduce perceived risks (metals detectors, armed LEOs, magnetic locks, ID badges, training, video systems, windows on doors) lower insurance premiums for private schools and school districts. The RFID badges are also about money, not security. Public schools are paid by attendance per day, so the RFID makes it really easy to count how many students are in the building. If someone REALLY wanted to charge into a school and starting shooting, there is not much that is going to stop them if they are determined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Riker Posted January 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 I have worked pretty much every type of job in education. Believe it or not, its actually about money, insurance, and risk. The cost of the extra security is far less than the costs associated with insurance payouts for a school being found responsible for the death of a child, or harm done by physical, emotional, or sexual abuse. The safety of having things that reduce perceived risks (metals detectors, armed LEOs, magnetic locks, ID badges, training, video systems, windows on doors) lower insurance premiums for private schools and school districts. The RFID badges are also about money, not security. Public schools are paid by attendance per day, so the RFID makes it really easy to count how many students are in the building. If someone REALLY wanted to charge into a school and starting shooting, there is not much that is going to stop them if they are determined. Very interesting. I completely believe that money would probably be the root of the responses... with the children's safety in mind too, of course. Not sure if this is a valid question, but does school violence in the news drive up insurance premiums?? What, if any, affect do you think the increased security measures have on the psyche of the student, and or the faculty? That's primarily what concerns me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikS Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 Can't say if there is a direct correlation, but rates go up every year so who knows. I don't think it affects students or staff. Safety comes first for any school, but done appropriately the primary emphasis is on education and safety is an after thought. To be honest schools are more concerned with student on student violence than any outside threats as that is dealt with on a daily basis - and many large urban middle and high schools are pretty dangerous places to begin with. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfishing3 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 most of the ""better public"" schools in my area have had upgraded security for awhile now. kids can only enter one door. security present at doors, teachers present. bus's only allowed in front of school. all parent drop off are in a different area also with guards' after school starts, all door are locked. you are greeted at outside front door by a parent volunteer, you then get buzzed and must go straight to office to check in. the have numerous guards, unarmed. but they are patrolling, and ever present. my wife and the teachers i'm intimate with, are wholly against armed guards and against armed teachers. my FIL was a 35yr teacher and in the service. He also would not ever bring a weapon into a school. schools will be a soft target even with a machine gun guards at door. all i need to do is go steal a school bus, fill with it boom boom, drive up to front doors. just saying. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Commander Riker Posted January 25, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 most of the ""better public"" schools in my area have had upgraded security for awhile now. kids can only enter one door. security present at doors, teachers present. bus's only allowed in front of school. all parent drop off are in a different area also with guards' after school starts, all door are locked. you are greeted at outside front door by a parent volunteer, you then get buzzed and must go straight to office to check in. the have numerous guards, unarmed. but they are patrolling, and ever present. my wife and the teachers i'm intimate with, are wholly against armed guards and against armed teachers. my FIL was a 35yr teacher and in the service. He also would not ever bring a weapon into a school. schools will be a soft target even with a machine gun guards at door. all i need to do is go steal a school bus, fill with it boom boom, drive up to front doors. just saying. I agree, actually. No one should have guns in schools... except for maybe those like our SRO, who is armed and on one campus sometimes. Now tasers in the hands of correctly trained persons, I'm more ok with... though it still does pose it's risks. I dunno... call me old school... but I don't remember cowering in a dark room with my class while a buzzer blared it's racket incessantly. Then again, we did have fire drills, I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideon35T Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 You missed the part about morals exist without religion.... oh and how this is related to security. Oh, I'm not imparting mutual exclusivity to the religion/morals things just pointing it out. Morals play a big part into security however. Even if not directly in regards to the individual performing the action. How someone is treated will effect how they respond. Bad morals on the side of everyone else (teachers included in some cases) are certainly a contributing factor. I see no discipline or courtesy in todays youong soldiers fresh out of school. Less and less inherant desire to protect/defend those around them. Etc etc etc --- I know it is not as black and white of a correlation but it's certainly true. I'd challenge any long time teacher to tell me that their students are better human beings today than they were years ago ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fudge_Brownie Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 I dunno... call me old school... but I don't remember cowering in a dark room with my class while a buzzer blared it's racket incessantly. Then again, we did have fire drills, I suppose. I don't either. But going back before "our" time, weren't nuclear drills popular? Cold war time frame? Is that really any different? Be scared kiddies, some asshole a million miles away is going to turn your town into dust at a moments notice.Erik's point about insurance also holds true with a lot of aspects of our society. It seems that the growing trend is fear and precaution driven by insurance. Some of the simplest examples being trampolines, or allowing other people to use your property. I guess "use at your own risk" isn't good enough. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyfishing3 Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 some of the rough schools by me have metal detectors, clear book bags. they may have armed guards, but its more for protection of the teachers. we don't nearly have the gangs like many cities, but we have these gangs mixed with regular kids. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts