What can be done to protect children from school shootings immediately?

@Ontheroad And what in your opinion would the "real root problems" be?

@Adrift I've thought about this and of course, I don't have all the answers, but here are my thoughts:


Shootings in the U.S.… all types of them including these horrific school shootings, aren’t going to stop unless we deal with them.
And, by we, I mean you, me, and our elected representatives, including the president.

Why this isn’t one of, if not the hottest and most important issues for elections is beyond me.

Yes, firearms are an issue, but not the only issue, and not just the firearm(s), but the number of them, who has them, how they get them, lack of accountability, and on and on.

Then there is the “gun culture”, and all that means.

Then there is the macho, toxic masculinity issue.

There is a lack of accountability for the individuals involved.

Then there is mental health and all the issues surrounding mental health.

Then there are failures in law enforcement, failures with schools and school districts, etc.

Parents, siblings, friends, and other family members who neglect or overlook the troubled person, or worse yet, with the gun culture so prevalent, encourage the person to act out.

And there are more…

See where I’m going? Solving this problem would be a herculean undertaking, and politically costly.

If you and I don’t demand a fix, it isn’t going to happen.

@Ontheroad I watched the video of the first time the police investagated and questioned the first complaint. What I got out it was this could have be any one of us.
I think that is why people are so quick to find a fast answer and a reason to blame.
Be it a gun, a knife an IED or a car that can be used, there is a way bigger picture that we as a society are not seeing.

@Ontheroad A locked door policy is not exactly too extreme a measure. The problem here was the father arming a kid he knew was fascinated with school shootings and he has been arrested.

@Johnson212 It's not the locked door... it's the environment we create with all these measures, which includes locked doors. I get what you are saying, and if that is the best we can do, then we have to do it. BUT for children to live in a locked-down school environment it is going to negatively affect them (emotionally/psychologically).

@Ontheroad No different than the habit of locking your front door at night. After that kid (the shooter) left the class one of the students locked the door, when he returned with the gun he could not get in and went elsewhere. That kept the kids in that particular room safe. Should be a common practice, class is in session, we don't want disturbances, once the class starts lock the door, nobody would think anything of it if it were don't that way as a regular habit.

@Johnson212 My niece is a teacher and we were discussing the some of the designs of the new school buildings being a death trap.
Only one way out through a hallway.
The older designs in some of the buildings had several doors leading out of the classrooms.
There was the main entry door from the hallway but also doors that connected to other classrooms.
Several ways to escape the classroom in case of an emergency.
When I was growing up the outside doors to the classrooms were always locked during class.
You had to knock to get in if you were late.

@Adrift Yes the key there is it is only one way in through a hallway but not one way out if there was a fire or other emergency.

@Johnson212 I asked about fire. She said they have fire procedures down pretty well.
There is only one door to the classrooms and that is through the main hallways, with exit doors leading outside the buildings.
The hallways would be the main choke points.

@Adrift Understood but locking doors to prevent unauthorized access into classrooms will not prevent students from leaving in the case of a fire. That there are fewer ways out now is a separate issue. Last school I went to was modern like that, no way out but was basically fire proof, nothing in there would burn, not even the curtains. Everything was brick, metal or fireproof. I guess with some work you could burn a desk if it was wood.

@Johnson212 We had slam bars on the doors leading out of building but the classroom doors were with a handle that could be opened from the inside but not the outside of the classroom.