_:n53b9328175804645a2ad1449cc7f42a7xb0
<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"With images of the recent Florida school shooting etched in her mind, Maggie Mae Young gets nervous walking around Western Branch High.&amp;quot;Every day, I&#039;m honestly scared to go to school,&amp;quot; she told Chesapeake&#039;s School Board a few weeks after the Feb. 14 Parkland shooting that left 17 dead.So Young, a junior, and her sister suggested ways that leaders could make schools safer: Install metal detectors, set up a tip line to report concerns about threats, and provide better training on how to respond to an attack.&amp;quot;I know that myself, as well as fellow classmates and teachers, feel unprepared for any potential shooting,&amp;quot; said Reagan Young, a freshman.Students across Hampton Roads have offered other ideas for improving school safety, such as a gunshot detection system and more security.Some experts agree with the Young sisters that schools need to provide better planning and training. But they caution that fortification may not be the best idea. Among their suggestions: an emphasis on mental health.While images of school shootings are horrifying, the reality is that they are uncommon, said Dewey Cornell, an education professor at the University of Virginia and director of Virginia Youth Violence Project. He said there has not been a homicide in a Virginia elementary, middle or high school since 1998.&amp;quot;Schools are one of the safest places in our communities,&amp;quot; Cornell said.He pointed to research released in February from a Northeastern University professor, James Alan Fox, showing that shooting incidents involving students have been declining since the 1990s.Four times the number of children were killed in schools in the early 1990s compared to today, according to the study. There are about 55 million schoolchild-ren in the U.S., and on average over the past 25 years, about 10 a year were killed by gunfire at school, Fox said.But in Hampton Roads, as in many places, schools have been adding safety measures for years. While precise efforts vary – and some are not made public so potential criminals can&#039;t be tipped off – it&#039;s common for schools to use security cameras. Many middle and high schools have resource officers – police who patrol campuses. Some also have security staff.&amp;quot;School safety and security is how we begin and end each day,&amp;quot; Norfolk Superintendent Melinda Boone said at a March 21 School Board workshop.Metal detectors are also used on occasion. For instance, Suffolk officials briefly put up checkpoints at Nansemond River High in late January based on what they described as &amp;quot;general information&amp;quot; from a social media site that concerned them.Since the Parkland shooting, school systems have taken extra steps. Virginia Beach committed to having buzzer security at all 82 schools in the coming months, and Suffolk said it would soon have similar technology. Norfolk, like Portsmouth, already has such systems, but continues to evaluate its practices, a division spokeswoman said. Chesapeake has started locking all doors during instructional time.Portsmouth recently participated in an active-shooter training workshop led by police and has partnered with the sheriff&#039;s department to make sure deputies are on patrol at schools and nearby, a division spokeswoman said. There also have been more unannounced security checks.In Chesapeake, the City Council gave the school division $2 million in late March to begin making security improvements right away. While that does not include funding for metal detectors, City Manager James Baker said nothing has been taken off the table.Virginia Beach researched metal detectors earlier in its budget process but concluded that it would cost more than $1 million to install them in high schools and middle schools – which make up about one-third of the division&#039;s buildings.More money would be needed to provide training and adequate staff to handle the technology. It might also require changing start times, since at some schools more than 2,000 students would need to get checked.In addition, Virginia&#039;s House of Delegates created a committee on school safety to explore ideas that will guide bills in the 2019 General Assembly.But some educators worry about going too far.&amp;quot;I do become concerned in turning schools into armed encampments,&amp;quot; Boone said at the March workshop. &amp;quot;And what&#039;s the right balance between safety and security – and then that being so heavy-handed that that becomes a concern and creates fear also.&amp;quot;Still, students across Hampton Roads in recent weeks have called for improved security. Thousands walked out of class March 14, then participated in another protest March 24. Many of those youngsters were pushing gun-control legislation, but some also wanted schools to step up safety efforts.Dozens have, like the Young sisters, taken their arguments to their school boards.Ian Lichacz, a Cox High senior, urged Virginia Beach&#039;s board to put a gunshot detection system in each school. That would reduce response times and let law enforcement know exactly where the criminal is, he argued.Virginia Beach is a safe school system, Lichacz said in a recent interview. He acknowledged that it&#039;s impossible to protect schools thoroughly enough to keep out every potential shooter.&amp;quot;The only way to really, truly help is to cut down the response time,&amp;quot; he said.Ken Trump, president of Ohio-based National School Safety and Security Services, said school systems have tended to rush to secure buildings in recent years after tragedies. Those efforts might make people feel safer because they provide something tangible, but they aren&#039;t the only solution, he said. They might even take away resources from another key step.Trump, who has more than 30 years in the field of school security, said divisions should put more time and money into planning and training. They need to make sure everyone, from teachers to bus drivers to food servers, knows how to handle an emergency. Drills should be run at different times of the day – such as during and between classes and when children are at lunch – so everyone can get used to any situation.&amp;quot;Schools have to invest in the people side,&amp;quot; Trump said.Some in Hampton Roads say that adding staff is key to improving safety. Paul Day, a retired Virginia Beach police officer who has a grandson in the city&#039;s school system, suggested two armed officers could monitor the entrance desk and patrol buildings to keep them secure. The officers could be retired police and wouldn&#039;t need to be hired full time, Day said.Day does not support allowing teachers to be armed, an idea floated by President Donald Trump. Properly training them would be a logistical nightmare, Day said. He does think it&#039;s crucial for schools to bulk up their security staff, though.&amp;quot;The first line of defense is that desk,&amp;quot; he said.Others say a focus on mental health is crucial to cutting down on future attacks. Cornell recently joined with other violence prevention experts to issue suggestions for improving safety. Their recommendations included a national requirement for all divisions to assess school climate, proper staffing of school and community mental health services, and reforming school discipline to eliminate practices that exclude students.The goal is to do more than just prepare for the next school shooting, Cornell said. It&#039;s to put the emphasis on making youngsters less violent.&amp;quot;In the long run, we want to change society,&amp;quot; he said.Sean Diment, a senior at Virginia Beach&#039;s Ocean Lakes High, thinks a change in attitude would help. Social media is filled with hate, he said, allowing youngsters to be bullied around the clock.Diment would like to see students and educators work harder to instill a culture of love, an effort that wouldn&#039;t cost much money. As an example, he pointed to a poster in a hallway at his school where anyone can leave kind notes.&amp;quot;It starts with small acts of kindness,&amp;quot; he said.Mike Connors, 757-222-5217, michael.connors@pilotonline.comMike Connors, 757-222-5217, michael.connors@pilotonline.com"
<https://www.pilotonline.com/news/education/article_0bf52c42-2bb7-11e8-9d52-5f6f48d148f4.html>