Journal #9: "Lockdown"

The world is a different place than it was prior to the shootings in Montreal, Columbine and an number of other places. How much do you pay attention to violent issues in the media? How safe do you feel in school? What suggestions do you have for finding our way (as a society) to a more peaceful state? Do you have any thoughts, comments, opinions or suggestions about the situation at Stamford on October 14th, 2009?

I can honestly say that I don’t watch the news on TV, there always seems to be something esle that i would rather watch on television. It’s not that I don’t care about issues that are going on in the world because I do. But there are so many stories that are sad or that I would just rather not hear about, so I avoid watching the news. There are so many bad things that happen in the world and it saddens and sometimes disgusts me at things people are capable of doing. But, I have heard about the various shootings that have happened within schools such as Montreal and Columbine and it never ceases to scare me. I mean what terrible things could have possibly happened to the people who get the idea that they want to go into a school and start shooting at people. My mom told me that when she was in school, the idea of a kid coming into the school and shooting up the place did not cross either the students or teachers mind. She said that she thinks that it is crazy that now a days we have to worry about whether or not someone is going to get upset and take their anger out with a gun at school. Before the famous shooting at Columbine and Montreal, I believe that schools did not take gun and bomb threats serious. I mean I do not think that they wanted to imagine or believe that a student would come into a school with a gun or bomb, therefore they did not take the threats seriously. However now, school administrators are seeing that some teenagers are not afraid to bring a gun or bomb to school and use it on other people, if they deem it necessary. so now whenever there is a threat of a bomb or gun, the school adminstrators take action into figuring out who, what and why the threat is being presented. But why is it that the world has gotten to the point where we, as students, cant go to school knowing whether or not it will be a regular day or a day in which there is a threat made?
Nowadays, we have to worry about whether someone could come to school with a gun or even bombs and threaten our lives. The school is supposed to be a safe learning environment where we get the education we need in order to work towards our future. But, schools are no longer seen as safe as they used to be. There are kids that are scared to go to school. And why? They are scared that something bad might happen to them while they are there. they are worried that they may get hurt at school.
But personally, I do feel safe within my school because I know that my school takes all the appropriate steps when a threat is made. I know that they do what they can to insure that no one in our school is seriously hurt, if hurt at all. I know that the administrators within our school do their best to prevent any student from getting in harms way whether it be a gun threat or any threat in general.
On October 14th, when the threat was made of a bomb within Stamford, I know that our staff and principals did what they could in order to make sure that everyone was safe. The staff checked all the classrooms and we even went into a lockdown. Our teachers made sure that no one panicked and made us feel safe.
But, I really don’t think that there is a way to completely prevent threats of bombs or guns within schools. If a student really has the intent of bringing either a gun or bomb to school and threatening the school, I believe that they will find a way. I believe that we could try to see any warning signs that a threat may occur.
It is scary to think that people could possibly come into the school and threaten the lives of their peers. But, it seems that the world has become unsafe whether we are at school, the grocery store or even the comfort of our own homes.