School Shooting Newtown CT

[AXOmom]

Been a while since I've stopped by, but since I teach at an elementary school (K-8 charter) I've been reading most of the discussions on this topic in various forums I frequent.

CutiePie2000 - I can only speak for the schools where I've taught, had children attend, or visited - none were locked (well except for the juvenile detention facility where I taught - it obviously was and MAYBE an alternative school where I taught - I can't remember for sure on it). You could walk into any of them and while you were supposed to check into the office - at the bigger schools (primarily high schools) this rarely happened.

After several school shootings in the past (as a sad aside - I graudated from Columbine and student taught at Thurston HS), most schools talked about heightened security and for a while many did lock up and get stricter about checking in at the office, issuing visitor passes etc., but as with most things like this-as time goes by and people calm down - they get sloppy. Sandy Hook actually was locked and you had to show ID and buzz to get in - several stations noted this was unusual particularly for that area. This is why they said he broke in.

This week we started locking down our school again which has presented some challenges with our aftercare program which I also oversee. It's worth it to feel somewhat secure; it's also led to a lot of questions from the kids who are, of course, wondering about why we are suddenly changing procedures. They notice any little change in their routine.


**** A little off the subject but a point of clarification- A poster mentioned why trust teachers with guns if they don't trust us to unionize - Not that I want a gun, but we do, in fact, have unions in every state that I'm aware of and a strong national union.