As details of Friday’s shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., emerged, local school administrators mourned the loss of the young lives and hoped to reassure parents and guardians that they take every precaution to keep their schoolchildren and staff safe on a daily basis.
Dr. Richard Bales, Johnson City Schools superintendent, said he viewed the events as nothing but a tragedy.
“My reaction is just how tragic any shooting incident is, but how horrific it is when it involves ... children and the loss of life. I don’t know that we can ever be truly as prepared as need to be, but just the loss of life, especially a child’s life, is just horrific,” Bales said. “It’s just such a mind-blowing thing to occur that there are students whose lives are over.”
He said Johnson City Schools each year updates its comprehensive safety plan and administrators and teachers are thoroughly trained on specific plans and instructions on what to do should an incident occur at one of the schools.
“We’ve also had outside people who are safety experts ... sort of review and access our plans and even do on-site visits at our schools and make recommendations for any alternatives or changes that we might need,” Bales said. “The last few years we’ve been able to add video cameras and then those buzz-button entries at the schools. We also have (school resource officers) at our schools ... available and a presence at the schools at all times.”
Students, faculty, staff and administration also practice drills for critical incidents throughout each school year, including lockdown drills, to help prepare everyone should something occur.
Washington County Director of Schools Ron Dykes said he was told of the shooting around noon Friday.
“It’s horrifying,” Dykes said. “It’s simply beyond description. Anytime you’re thinking about death, but certainly when it applies to children specifically, and even more so when it involves primary grade children, I mean it’s ... simply revolting and shocking. Our (hearts) and prayers go out to the families and their community.”
He said Washington County has an official crisis plan if a tragedy should happen at one of the schools.
“Everything from a catastrophic weather event to intruders ... and shooters. We practice these events all throughout the year,” Dykes said.
Dykes said he feels the county’s schools do take many protective measures, including buzz-in only access at the front the school and locking all other entries into the school.
Dykes said each visitor first must state their name and business pertaining to the school through an outside call system with the receptionist inside the school. Visitors to schools must be escorted through the halls and also are sometimes given a pass and an identification sticker.
“You are monitored by video surveillance all throughout the building, from the moment you actually come on campus because many of our campuses have outside cameras as well as inside cameras,” he said. “We have expanded our SROs. We’ve added two more this year ... with the help of the sheriff’s office, and there’s a presence of law enforcement on our campuses to add a more pronounced level of security.”
Dr. Jill McCarley, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at East Tennessee State University, said Friday’s shooting rampage will affect children in other parts of the country.
She said children everywhere could experience anxiety related to the shooting and possibly not want to go to school.
“This will have international effects,” she said. “We saw this after Columbine. We saw this after the World Trade Center fell on 9/11. It’ll be on every TV screen for the next week. Everybody will be talking about it and kids present, not only watching the TV, but hearing adults talk about it.”
McCarley suggested parents monitor children’s media exposure to the shooting coverage, not completely censor it, but limit it. Parents should also offer support and comfort to children who may have questions about the shooting. Encourage children to ask questions, McCarley said.
Children in their middle or even later teens may have serious concerns and fears about the shooting, too, she said.
“Comment back on what you are seeing out of your child,” she said.
Exploring children’s feeling allows parents to offer sympathy and concern and support, McCarley said.
She said it is very likely some children may be hesitant to return to school, particularly with younger children who may be generally anxious.
In this case, parents should reinforce that their child’s school does have safety protocols in place to protect them. Focusing on positive events in the news is also a good way to reinforce positive thoughts.
“Get the kid to focus on the heroes of the day, to talk about the ambulance drivers, to talk about the policeman, to talk about the doctors and nurses at the hospital who are working to save lives,” she said. “Say, you know, ‘We’ve got big, strong people who are there to help and to save people’ and kind of focus on the heroes of the day.”
McCarley recommended parents encouraging their children to speak with guidance counselors regarding school safety if they are still unsettled. Do not encourage them to miss school, though, she said.
If a child is experiencing severe anxiety regarding the shooting, McCarley recommended seeing the child’s physician or visiting some other health care provider.
rhon0311 writes:
December 14, 2012
10:10 PM
Really, I have pushed the button to the school several times and never ask who I am or where I was going with Washington Co. Schools. My daughter is looking at teaching abroad due to the lax in security with elementary schools in the US. Take your chances with a sniper in another country......welcome to the USA!
Sazzy writes:
December 15, 2012
12:04 AM
In my 7 year old daughter's school, the only thing they have that could be deemed 'security' are a few video surveillance cameras. ANYONE could just waltz in, grab a kid, and walk out. And certainly anyone could just walk in and start shooting! I had been contemplating home schooling my children for quite some time, and had recently decided against it for the time being, but now? The idea is VERY appealing at the moment!
Remove Money from Politics writes:
December 15, 2012
4:45 AM
Well, what do you propose for security? Metal detectors at each entrance like some California schools? Armed guards?
We know we can't prevent every psycho from getting a gun, either. Many of them don't have a criminal history or enough psychological problems in their medical history to be denied a gun. And at gun shows, there aren't any background checks anyway.
There's no easy solution here.
truthful writes:
December 15, 2012
8:06 AM
At the gun shows you do have a back ground checks if you buy a new gun but i`ve seen from some on the dealers cash and carry And no one knows the differ it hard telling who`s name the gun is reg in as far as that goes. If one person would have been armed in the office they could have put a stop to the shooter The school employees need to carry conceal to handle things like this . yes security guards would be nice but the time they would have got there it would have been the same thing the damage has been done . the guns were reg to the mother from what i heard on news so he was to young to have a gun in his name .the mother should have none of any illness the shooter would have had .
Sazzy writes:
December 15, 2012
10:38 AM
If metal detectors and an armed presence is what it takes to provide a reasonable amount of security for our children to be able to attend school with a decent amount of safety, then yes. I am required by law to send my children to school--by that same token, I should be able to send them to school without having to worry constantly that some pedophile is going to snatch them straight out of the hallways, or someone in the grips of a psychotic break is going to walk in and open fire! Quite frankly, I would be a little more reassured if my daughters' school had ANY security, for they have NONE.
I am by no means desiring any laws that would infringe upon our second amendment rights. If they took those away, then the only people that would have guns would be criminals, military, and the police. And that is beyond frightening. But perhaps something that would stop just about anyone from walking into the nearest Wal-mart and walking out with a high-powered rife or shotgun and a truckload of ammo wouldn't be a bad idea.
Remove Money from Politics writes:
December 15, 2012
3:54 PM
Ok, so you're willing to spend tens to hundreds of billions of dollars to put metal detectors and armed guards at our school. How about spending that money on mental health care? America's priorities are upside down.
@truthful: the mother can't stop the kid from taking the guns if he shoots her first. Think about it.
truthful writes:
December 15, 2012
4:10 PM
Remove Money from Like a parent is suppose to do is have the guns out of site or lock in a safe where there is no means of getting it or using it Now you think about it
jess135 writes:
December 16, 2012
6:19 AM
FIRST OF ALL MY HEART GOES OUT TO ALL THE FAMILIES, CHILDREN, TEACHERS, EVERYONE WHO SUFFERED THIS HORRIFIC TRAGEDY! BUT, WHAT MAKES ME ANGRY AS EVER IS WE CAN SPEND ALL THE MONEY WE WANT PROTECTING FACILITIES , LIKE COURT HOUSES WITH ONE WAY IN AND OUT WITH METAL SCANNERS PROTECTING CRIMINALS THAT COMMIT CRIMES SUCH AS THESE AND CORRUPT JUDGES AND LAWYERS, BUT WE CAN NOT DO THE SAME TO OUR SCHOOLS AND PROTECT OUR CHILDREN???????? WE ALL NEED TO MAKE A STAND AND FIGHT FOR OUR RIGHT TO BE PROTECTED ESPECIALLY WHEN IT COMES TO INNOCENT CHILDREN!!!! AS MANY TIMES THESE INCIDENTS HAVE OCCURRED ..........................................SOMETHING SHOULD HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE! ALMOST MAKES ME NOT WANT TO SEND MY CHILDREN 2 SCHOOL AT ALL, HHMMM, WONDER WHAT RESPONSE WE WOULD GET IF WE WOULD TAKE A STAND TOGETHER AND ALL KEEP OUR CHILDREN HOME...FORCE THEIR HAND!!!! REALLY, UNTIL WE PULL TOGETHER AND DO SOMETHING EXTREME, THEY WONT DO A THING! SAD....BUT TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jess135 writes:
December 16, 2012
6:21 AM
OH, AS WELL, I CAN ALSO BUZZ THE LITTLE BUTTON AT MY SCHOOL...DOOR POPS RIGHT OPEN FOR ANYONE. NO QUESTIONS ASKES!D...WASHINGTON CO., J.C SCHOOL SYSTEM
Remove Money from Politics writes:
December 16, 2012
10:05 AM
@truthful
If the gun is in a safe, how do you use it for self defense? Think about it. I mean that.
SovereignAxe writes:
December 16, 2012
3:08 PM
I think truthful is talking about the guns she *doesn't* use for self defense. The one you use for self defense should be on your hip in a holster at all times. If it's not it should be in the safe-especially if you have crazy people/kids in your home.
truthful writes:
December 17, 2012
7:01 PM
SovereignAxe You are right that`s what i meant the one she used for self defense should have been on her and the ones not should have been in a place locked or secured REMOVE MONEY YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT
provided.