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Would metal detectors make our children safer?
One of the earliest issues that came up on Wednesday when the Sun Sentinel began covering the shooting death of a student at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale was whether the school had metal detectors.
As it turned out, the school uses hand held metal detectors on occasion, but it's not as if every student has to go through a metal detector to get onto the campus.
This raises a number of campus safety issues, some of which are explored by our colleague Kathy Bushouse in this article (Click Here).
One Dillard High parent said this morning that metal detectors may be an inconvenience, but they're also necessary to help guarantee safety.
"You need metal detectors," said Marion Stevens, whose son, David, is a junior at Dillard. "They have them everywhere.They have them in the courthouse."
Not to mention airports.
Is Stevens right? Are metal detectors worth the cost and inconvenience? Local columnist Mike Mayo thinks not. If the charges against Teah Wimberly (pictured left) are true, would a metal detector have stopped her from bringing a gun on campus to shoot Amanda Collette (right)?
Do you think your child's school needs a metal detector? What lengths should we go to in order to ensure safety in school?
Gretchen Day-Bryant has a son in high school and a daughter in middle school. She’s lived to tell about the struggles of juggling little kids and work...
Joy Oglesby has an infant daughter and a sister 13 years her junior, whom she babies to the now-adult...
Cindy Kent Fort Lauderdale mother of three. Her kids span in ages from teenager to 20s...
Rafael Olmeda and his wife welcomed their first son in Feb. 2009, and he's helping raise two teenage stepdaughters...
Lois Solomon lives in Boca Raton with her husband and three daughters...
Anne Vasquez is the Online Editor in charge of overseeing SunSentinel.com. She is the mother of a 5-year-old boy and a newborn daughter.
Georgia East is the parent of a five-year-old girl, who came into the world weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces...
Brittany Wallman is the mother of Creed, 13, and Lily, 6, and is married...
Chris Tiedje is the Social Media Coordinator, and father of two boys and a girl all under the age of seven.
Comments
When Broward inhertited the Supt from Houston, the first thing he ordered 2 metal detectors for every school.There also is a sheriff at each school or security person. The metal detectors don't work in the safe. The deference in the prinipals' incident reports & the security person, esp the Sheriff's is totaly amazing at the difference in numbers.
Posted by: Marsha | November 13, 2008 9:07 PM
Looks like the Sun Sentinel editorial board decided to weigh in on this, too. Check that out here: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/opinion/sfl-editgsshootingpnnov14,0,7661361.story
Posted by: Rafael Olmeda | November 14, 2008 5:35 AM
Yes I think metal detectors should be in schools. We need to look at the bigger picture when making this choice. We need to look out for our children safety. That's why its surprising to me that people would vote NO for this question. Would they change their answer if their children was harmed like Amanda Collette?
Posted by: Rena Mitch | November 14, 2008 10:04 AM
It is a shame that happenned: students going to school with a gun; something is very wrong and I hope something will be done to protect better kids in schools in the future.
Posted by: yvonne | November 14, 2008 3:18 PM
I believe that the incident could have happened at the school. if the girl wanted to kill her she could have done it in the school parking lot or outside the gate. Most metal detectors are only located at the doors of the school. Yes, it would be an inconvenience because there are well over a thousand students at the school. School hours may have to be extended, more staff, more than 2 metal detectors, etc. Budget cuts are happening throughout the school system. I mean it would be nice tough, but as stated by many others, families(parents, guardians, whoever) need to take care of each other through genuine concern and support. Moral values and respect are going out the window nowadays and it's just sad!
Posted by: Lexi | November 15, 2008 5:07 AM
Metal detectors are a great idea. They would insure better safety and help keep weapons out of the schools. However, the idea is a little impossible to inforce. At the airport travelers know to go 2 hours before their flights so they can make it through security okay. What student is going to be willing to do that? Also, even if we had money flowing out of the school board's ears, there are so many entrances to the different buildings in all of the high schools that it would take A LOT to enforce the effectiveness of these metal detectors.
Are students need to feel safe and deserve a safe and secure learning environment. How that is going to happen is still a mystery to me. I think it should start with the students themselves and their families.
Posted by: Amanda | November 16, 2008 12:04 AM
Metal detectors are a terrible idea. Why should society punish the masses for the actions of a few? Is that really a lesson we want to teach our kids--that one must always sacrifice personal freedom for the illusion of safety? Should going into the classroom be the same hassle it is to get on an airplane these days with administrators going through all one's personal belongings and pockets and officers ogling high resolution scans of our bodies beneath our clothes? Why can't you parents insure your kid(s) leaves the family firearm collection at home? Are you all really that lazy that you are so eager to pass your parental responsibilities on to the state?
Posted by: Carl | December 2, 2008 10:06 PM