Despite the desire for schools to be an educational, safe, secure, and peaceful environment for children to learn, breaking news of school tragedies has become quite common around the world, resulting in a spark of concern and wonder amongst parents, guardians, staff, and students.

Protocols and procedures are followed at school. However, are they sufficiently practiced, and does continuing to use the same repetitive procedures expose us to danger? The majority of the dangers that occur are the result of people who attend the school, implying that they are well aware of the procedures and know how to use them to their advantage.

There should be a variety of methods in place to keep staff and students safe, as following the same procedures has proven not to be beneficial in previous world events.

How can we expect our building to be a prepared and safe environment, if it lacks security around the premises? This issue arises from the short spending of the school. 

Alternatives include the community banding together to raise awareness and donate to the district to purchase the necessary equipment and have a larger number of highly trained security officers guard the school.

Teachers can assist students in creating fundraisers, websites, and social media pages, writing well-informed articles, holding bake sales, and the community can gather significant reasons to convince the school board in providing money to help the cause.

WJPS assistant principal, Mr. Yarmy stated, “Although there is always room for improvement, I feel fairly safe wandering around the hallways. Too much mobility in the hallways is a safety concern; less crowded would prevent incidents.”

WJPS technology specialist, Mr. Myrtil stated, “Our school is in a completely safe area, where there is very little crime and just one incident of violence occurs every quarter.”