The first day of a new school year was always filled with excitement when I was a child. Although we usually knew who our teacher would be, there was occasionally the mystery of a new teacher in town. I would often meet with friends the day before school started and decide what time we would arrive at school and what seat we would try to claim in our homeroom. We were filled with positive, anticipatory excitement. In many schools today, especially in the USA, the first day of school is marked with trepidation, fear, and concern. The US history of mass school shootings has left its mark!
In the US, a lot of school opening activity revolves around student safety. Teachers learn about conducting lockdown drills and evacuation procedures. In the event of a hostile threat in the school, teachers in some schools have been provided with pails, kitty litter and shower curtains, in order to assemble emergency toilets if children cannot leave the classroom. Schools have installed electronic locks to all classrooms so that they can be instantly sealed in an emergency.
Various states have implemented a wide variety of safety measures that attempt to make schools more secure. Many have armed security guards at the doors and in the halls and some counties in Texas have recommended that teachers carry arms to class. Outside doors are locked all day and security bars trigger alarms to identify illegal entry. Some American high schools have installed metal detectors at school entrances.
Parents are encouraged to teach their children at home what to do in case of lockdown emergencies. One of the biggest sellers for the new school year are bulletproof backpacks for students. How far we have fallen, from the joyous first day experiences of my youth!
One extreme case of over reaction has occurred in Michigan where $48 million dollars has been spent to design a high school with curved corridors, hiding places and concrete barriers in the hallways in an effort to thwart mass shooters. Classroom windows will all be bulletproof and each room will have a corner called a “shadow zone” not visible from the hallway. The design firm that is preparing these features has previously worked on prison design. How sad a commentary is that!
While no one can argue the major importance of child safety, I do wonder if we are laying the ground work for another serious problem. The precautions and procedures that are being implemented cannot be faulted, if there is a gunman hunting within the walls of a school. On the other hand, I am wondering how many small children will be attending their local school with a little fear and anxiety as the new school year begins. How will this regular tension and concern manifest itself over the twelve years a student is in school? Will many emerge with a modified form of PTSD - a PRE-traumatic stress disorder? Children can develop many social and emotional issues as they grow up. Are our safety conscious strategies going to contribute to a whole new set of fears, paranoias and frightened young adults? By converting schools into small fortresses, are we creating young fearful adults who have lost a significant part of their childhood?
As years pass, I do believe that the joy of the first day of school which I enjoyed, will no longer exist for many. How tragic is that? Even more tragic, I have no idea how the issue of school shootings can be eliminated!
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