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King’s College commencement held a ‘family’ theme on Sunday

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Lottery Numbers for Sunday, May 22

<p>Would it be a good idea to &#8230;</p><p>&#8230; re-evaluate our approach to safety in schools, with an emphasis on revamping building codes?</p><p>The notion was spurred by retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. David Grossman&#8217;s opening comments at a school safety conference earlier this month in Plains Township, as <a href="https://www.timesleader.com/news/540379/expert-fears-mass-killings-on-school-buses-and-in-day-care-centers-if-changes-are-not-made" target="_blank">reported in the Times Leader</a>.</p><p>Grossman made strong points when he urged the public at large and news media in particular to stop referring to mass murderers who enter our schools to wreak mayhem as &#8220;active shooters. &#8220;Words have power,&#8221; he said.</p><p>No disagreement here.</p><p>Another contention &#8211; that relentless publicity of the perpetrators only serves to motivate more of the same &#8211; deserves discussion, but the question has merit: Would fewer people go on mass killing sprees if they had scant hope of grabbing national attention after the fact?</p><p>But it was Grossman&#8217;s comparison of school deaths by fire versus by violence that seemed &#8211; literally and figuratively &#8211; the most concrete opportunity for action. He noted that no children died from school fires in the last five decades, and rattled off the safeguards responsible.</p><p>When building schools, we take it for granted that construction will include fireproof and fire-retardant materials, automatic alarms and sprinklers, doors that lock people out but not in, and multiple escape routes, in case all those other measures fail.</p><p>Such features &#8220;easily double the cost of construction&#8221; of our schools, Grossman argued.</p><p>Is it time to mandate similar physical measures intended to prevent mass killings?</p><p>Are we talking metal detectors that can&#8217;t be bypassed, even by staff? Don&#8217;t look too close the next time you go into a school with a detector; you are apt to see many people waved through by a harried security greeter who is struggling to keep up with the volume of those pressing that &#8220;let me in&#8221; buzzer all day.</p><p>Or perhaps we should consider bullet-proof, or at least shatter-resistant, glass on all doors and windows. It is arguable that we spend more money in construction to protect children against earthquakes &#8211; as rare as they are around here &#8211; than we do to protect them against projectiles, be it bullet or brick.</p><p>Surely it would pay to require installation and annual upkeep of a system that warns administrators and security staff when a door is left ajar. Take a walk around the school nearest you and see how often all the security features at the front door can be bypassed due to someone carelessly propping open a door to, say, a gym or kitchen.</p><p>Give us your feedback about school safety by sending a letter to the editor or posting comments to this editorial at timesleader.com.</p><p>Likewise, tell us your ideas for improving the community and making area residents&#8217; lives better. Maybe we&#8217;ll spotlight your suggestion in a future editorial and ask readers, &#8220;Would it be a good idea to &#8230;&#8221;</p><style>
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Our Opinion: Lessen risk of shootings by building schools with safety in mind