A RESPONSE to school shootings

Twenty years after the infamous Columbine shooting in 1999, there have been more than 800 mass shootings in the United States. Several congressional proposals have been put forward to combat the increase in the number of shootings, yet few of the measures have had lasting effects.

By comparison, after the deadly Christchurch mosque shooting in March of 2019, New Zealand passed strict gun laws banning semi-automatic weapons and effectively shutting down private gun use in the country.

Enter the RESPONSE Act, or the “Restoring, Enhancing, Strengthening, and Promoting Our Nation’s Safety Efforts Act.” Proposed by Republican Senator John Cornyn, the action plans to combat school shootings on several fronts by providing funding to advance law enforcement to screen possible shooters, expand private surveillance, and bolster school safety for students and faculty.

Senate Democrats argue that the proposal lacks responsible gun control measures, instead favoring mental health and predictive screening.

Advancing Law Enforcement:

The proposal would increase surveillance of students, with school districts and police departments collaborating to monitor keyword searches and social media posts that are viewed as an imminent potential risk.

Federal law mandates public school districts to block harmful websites and “monitor” student internet activity, yet neither the websites or the level of oversight are clearly outlined. Individual school districts are thereby allowed to dictate what students are allowed to view and in most cases, private surveillance companies such as Gaggle and Securely monitor student emails and internet searches.

Supporters of increased student internet surveillance argue that future employers monitor search history and work emails and that more oversight is helping train students to become good digital citizens. Others argue that student email monitoring could prove detrimental to students who are unknowingly being scanned and that surveillance companies would misinterpret jokes and sarcasm as legitimate threats to student safety.

The Response Act would effectively require school-based “Behavioral Intervention Teams” that would refer to inappropriate student behavior directly to law enforcement rather than counselors or staff.

Student Resource Officers like Washington State Police Officer Jason Hedstrom at Central Kitsap High School have become more commonplace in schools across the country. Estimates from the National Association of Student Resource Officers found that there are between 14,000 and 20,000 student resource officers in almost 30% of all public schools across America.

Resource Officer Jason Hedstrom defined his job at Central Kitsap as “law enforcement first, then an informal counselor and mentor second.”

SROs function differently in schools than traditional security officers and as such have different legal parameters than school faculty. Resource officers often lead important classes teaching students about safety issues and law enforcement, where the function of Security officers centers around student discipline.

In most instances, SROs serve as mentor figures to students and provide parents with the security of knowing that their children are safe.

Unfortunately, recent events of questionable SRO behavior has raised concerns about the function of resource officers, since schools are not required to have either resource or police officers.

The number of SROs in public schools has only grown since the Columbine shooting, yet even with the increased number of police officers in schools, there is no conclusive evidence showing that more policing equals safer schools. Several studies have found that having Resource Officers in the school may actually decrease student safety and increase the school-to-prison pipeline.

Bolstering Student-Teacher resources:

Another aspect of the RESPONSE proposal would be an increase in school safety measures, including active shooter training and assisting behavioral intervention teams.

Subdivided into the different school districts, the money went to fund active shooter training for teachers as per the ALICE protocol, and the Central Kitsap School District has spent nearly $15,000 to implement ALICE.

Yet even with the extra precautions, nearly 95% of all schools across the country practice shooter drills despite the likelihood of a deadly shooting being less than one in a million. The FBI found in a 2014 study that “the average of 6.4 incidents occurred in the first 7 years studied, and an average of 16.4 occurred in the last 7 years studied,” showing a yearly increase in the trend of shootings.

Logistically, the implementation of ALICE would require all students and staff to be vigilant for possible suspects and bear the brunt of disarming and securing shooters. Nearly 60% of all shootings end before police ever arrive, and nearly 70% of all shootings are dealt with within 5 minutes or less.

America’s response:

The RESPONSE bill outlines many different possible solutions to combat the largest series of American domestic terrorism to date.

Regardless of partisanship, the issue of school shootings has become vital to American Politics, taking center stage at recent Democratic Debates and having legal precedent by President Trump.

Twenty years after Columbine, America still grapples with these acts of domestic terrorism, but the defining historical moment will be how we choose to respond.

Other articles of note:

Under digital surveillance: how American schools spy on millions of kids – The Guardian

Do Police Officers In Schools Really Make Them Safer? – NPR