Researchers at Ball State University and the University of Toledo published a study in the Violence and Gender journal just this week. They concluded that school security efforts have little to no impact on deterring gun violence at educational institutions. In fact, they argue that security guards give students and teachers a false sense of safety.
The study’s authors combed through school security data across 18 years to see how effective different measures are. They found that none of the approaches utilized have worked very well.
They found that their hiring of officers to watch over school campuses has been done mostly to alleviate the fears of students and parents. They’ve also done it to send a message to those in the local community that they’re taking steps to make schools safer. The truth is that the number of gun-related incidents at schools is steadily climbing. There were 94 of them in 2018 here in the United States. This marks an all-time high.
Data compiled by The Washington Post shows that 233 schools and over 226,000 kids have been unnecessarily exposed to gun violence since the Columbine school shooting occurred 20 years ago in 1999. At least 294 students, teachers and other support staff have been injured in these incidents. Another 143 of them have lost their lives.
In addition to hiring armed resource officers to patrol their schools, administrators have also outfitted their buildings with bulletproof glass, metal detectors and video cameras. Workers have been given identification cards to carry around. Even still the numbers of gun-related incidents continue to rise. The researchers believe that this has a lot to do with how easy it is for kids to get their hands on guns.
Children in Texas are at significant risk of being injured at school due to gun violence. A perpetrator often becomes increasingly isolated and shares their plans with others before they act. If school district officials have failed to take steps to protect your son or daughter, then a child injury attorney can advise you of your right to hold them accountable for their negligence.
Michael Zimmerman
Michael nació en Houston, Texas. Estudió en las universidades de Baylor y Texas State, donde se licenció en Ciencias en 1987. Se especializó en Biología y en Química. Terminó su educación legal en Texas Southern University en 1990, obteniendo un Doctorado en Derecho de la Escuela de Derecho Thurgood Marshall. Fue admitido en el Colegio de Abogados del Estado de Texas en 1990.
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