how to prevent school shootings?

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I can't believe every response is about things like

1) Oh we can put chain link fences around the whole damn school and turn this place into a maximum security prison

or

2) You screen people like at the damn airport

or who knows WHAT, but let's just cure the problem at its source. How about we get parents to raise their kids properly. A properly raised person who's well educated and isn't in any crisis is not going to go about and shoot people up. That's your BEST solution to the problem.

 

[Flammable]

can we get some frikken lasers on some frikken sharks PLEASE?

 

[Brian48]

You can't prevent it.

 

[slpaulson]

CNN had a guy who thought campuses need to check bags and everything.
Considering many classes has 200+ people, I just don't see that working.
Plus, what's going to stop the guy from just shooting all the students at the checkpoint...

There isn't much you can do, especially at a campus like UW - Madison that is right in the downtown of the city.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
I can't believe every response is about things like

1) Oh we can put chain link fences around the whole damn school and turn this place into a maximum security prison

or

2) You screen people like at the damn airport

or who knows WHAT, but let's just cure the problem at its source. How about we get parents to raise their kids properly. A properly raised person who's well educated and isn't in any crisis is not going to go about and shoot people up. That's your BEST solution to the problem.

Yes, well your solution will happen right after world peace is accomplished. So the only correct answer to the question is to make a college campus into a prison setting. Which obviously nobody wants, so eventually people will get killed.

 

[yowolabi]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: EagleKeeper
Stop coddling people and make them be are of the results of their actions.

Life is not a video game where you can just hit the reset button.

and parents need to stop sheltering their kids from disappointment ( i realize this may not have anything to do with the gunman a V Tech) so that when they get out into the real world disappointment and rejection slap them in the face hard and they go postal because they don't know how to deal with it.

how to prevent school shootings? impossible to totally prevent. where there is a will there is a way.

And, it'd be nice if we quit sensationalizing these stories. Now, when someone is emotionally on the edge, the thought of going on a mass-killing rampage will probably come to mind a little more often.

I actuallly agree with this. It's well documented that when a suicide is publicized somewhere, the suicide rate goes up significantly. People who are already emotionally unstable will take cues from the media about possible solutions to their pain.

Edit: Wikipedia link on copycat suicide

Seeing how these school shooting usually end with suicide, i think it's a very valid comparison.

Another good article showing how most school shooters got the idea from coverage of another shooter, a movie, or a book.

 

[Anubis]

NO MORE SCHOOLS!

 

[So]

I still think my glue trap idea hasn't been given enough consideration.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: funboy42

I think this is going to be the only way you will every stop shootings at schools, and yes your going to have to do one hell of a back ground check on each and every worker, and have them go in for constant mental evaluations, to catch any would be nuts o teachers and what nots as well.

wait, you're saying that the best way of stopping shootings at schools, is to shoot people at schools?

The best way is to simply change the local culture+attitude so that such things are simply unheard of. But that's a very hard thing to do, and it's not concrete enough to make headlines, so...it may work in Europe and Asia, but not the US.

 

[Journer]

Originally posted by: Queasy
The way most college campuses are designed, it is nigh impossible.

Relating to my own school, University of Alabama, the campus is easily accessibly by vehicle from a number of roads going through and around the campus. Dozens of buildings have multiple entrances. Schools wouldn't be able to afford the kind of security it would take to lock-down a campus like that.

The only thing to prevent something like this is to have an active campus police force that can respond quickly. And (barring another gun control argument) allow people (students/professors) that are licensed to bring guns on campus.

Otherwise, you are going to greatly restrict your campus.

wtf? u go to UA?

ROLL TIDE!

 

[J0hnny]

Freaknomics said it best, encourage abortion!

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: Queasy
The way most college campuses are designed, it is nigh impossible.

Relating to my own school, University of Alabama, the campus is easily accessibly by vehicle from a number of roads going through and around the campus. Dozens of buildings have multiple entrances. Schools wouldn't be able to afford the kind of security it would take to lock-down a campus like that.

The only thing to prevent something like this is to have an active campus police force that can respond quickly. And (barring another gun control argument) allow people (students/professors) that are licensed to bring guns on campus.

Otherwise, you are going to greatly restrict your campus.

That will not prevent it, though it might cut down the casualties somewhat. Police are responders more than preventers. I agree those who are legally able to do so should be allowed to carry, but there will likely still be losses from these shootings...just fewer.

 

[Pocatello]

I don't think it's possible to prevent a shooting in an open campus environment. Some crazy person with guns can cause a lot of carnage, whether it's in the private home, school campus, or any public place. We can prevent some but not all.

 

[2Xtreme21]

I really say this in the most sincere, non-disrespecting way possible: sh*t happens. There is no way to prevent these kinds of tragedies, same as there is no way to prevent anyone from setting a house on fire, from breaking into a car, or from doing anything harmful to anyone. All of these solutions on how to prevent such a thing are only looking narrow-mindedly at the subject and not considering what the consequences of enacting any of those actions are. If someone is hell bent on hurting someone, you can bet your ass they're going to do it. The person who mentioned that society assumes most people are rationale and know good from bad said it best-- most people would know not to do this, but there's always that bad apple in the bushel.

This is what I fear most from what happened-- the actions that are going to come as a result of fear of this incident. It's sick what the "no tolerance" rules set in place after Columbine have done with school districts: 9 year olds hauled off by police for bringing in a squirt gun as part of his Halloween costume, 12 year olds getting expelled for bringing in asprin, other kids being sent to prison and years of intensive counseling for doodling "unacceptable" pictures in a notebook. What's going to happen now?

 

[AgentJean]

Get rid of the whole gun free zone crap.

A "gun free" zone is a "free kill zone". The terrorists(and that's what anyone who shoots up a school is) knows no one can fight back so these places make the perfect targets.

 

[George P Burdell]

Legalize weed. I've never met an angry pot smoker.

 

[theeedude]

Originally posted by: AgentJean
Get rid of the whole gun free zone crap.

A "gun free" zone is a "free kill zone". The terrorists(and that's what anyone who shoots up a school is) knows no one can fight back so these places make the perfect targets.

I was gonna post the same thing, but sarcastically.

 

[maddogchen]

Originally posted by: AgentJean
Get rid of the whole gun free zone crap.

A "gun free" zone is a "free kill zone". The terrorists(and that's what anyone who shoots up a school is) knows no one can fight back so these places make the perfect targets.

i'm somehow reminded of Santa Cruz, CA which is a nuke free zone hahah. yes...its the first place the terrorists will come nuke...

 

[angminas]

As the saying goes, a lock will only keep honest people out, because a thief will break it. I realize most here have heard this, but perhaps the OP has not, considering the nature of his question. The logic applies to any crime or wrongdoing.

You can't make an unbreakable lock- the only solution is for people to choose not to steal. No human has ever come up with a solution to crime, violence, and hatred...and none ever will.

For the grieving and interested, my church has published a booklet, Why Does God Allow Suffering? There are links to similar articles on the page.

 

[0roo0roo]

armed students is the only way really. limits the power of the gunman to kill without response.

 

[bcterps]

Better parenting and people that care about each other will prevent most of this from happening. Gun control, etc. do not address the real issues here, that the shooter today most likely had shown signs of mental disorder well before today.

 

[axelfox]

Originally posted by: Anubis
NO MORE SCHOOLS!

 

[montanafan]

The only times we know that something similar has been prevented was when someone told the right people about threats or behavior that could lead to this type of tragedy and those warnings were taken seriously. We all know now that the murderers in the Columbine shootings gave plenty of warnings beforehand, but no one did anything about it. The closest you can come to preventing something like this is to be observant of threats or warning behaviors, take them seriously, and take action.

Edit: I wouldn't be one bit surprised to hear after this has all been investigated, that the guy made some threats or did or said things that made some people think he was capable of doing something like this, but they didn't say anything because they didn't think he really would.

 

[theeedude]

The cops should have thrown guns through the windows for other students to use.

 

[mrrman]

install metal detectors etc