In the midst of tragedy people respond differently. There are always questions: how did this happen, who is responsible, what could have been done to stop it? A particular event that hits close to home is attacks at schools. Whether it be a terrorist attack or just a mad gunman, schools seem to be a choice target for those looking to cause harm. The one constant that follows every tragedy is a call for change.

With the recent string of attacks at schools, many parents have started to question just how safe their children really are. There has been a surge around the country to make sweeping changes to all aspects of school safety procedures and the current gun control laws. What many people do not know, however, is just how much schools already do to keep students safe.

Schools have realized the need in today’s environment to build an infrastructure that is conducive to the protection of its students. Many schools have begun to install security cameras, automatically locking doors and even armed police officers stationed within the school. Revere High School Superintendent Randy Boroff talked about the additions that Revere schools recently made to keep kids safe.

“We have installed cameras at many of the entrances to the different buildings, cameras that the police can actually tap into if we tell them to. [If] there is an intruder at the main entrance we would let [the police] know and they could use the cameras to pinpoint exactly what is going on,” Boroff said.

While many schools have been making massive changes in the past few years, Revere prides itself on what it already has in place. The school already had automatically locking doors before many other schools made the switch. Some schools like Strongsville High School revised their lockdown policy following the shootings at Chardon High School. Infrastructure is not the only aspect of keeping students safe, however, as policy plays just as big of a role. Revere constantly updates its policies to best protect students and faculty. For example, teachers have been instructed by safety experts about the latest trends. Also, the schools have policies on who can and cannot enter the school.

“The secretarial staff has been receiving training on new questions they can ask people who wish to gain entrance, but the main change has to be the culture of the school. Currently, there is a welcoming culture at schools like Revere where students often do not feel afraid to let anyone who comes to the doors in. This must change,” Boroff said.

Some policies are made outside of the school. For example, the Bath Police Department has a specific procedure for every possible event that could happen at a school. Even for sporting events, great care is taken in order to keep attendees safe. Chief of the Bath Police Department, Mike McNeely, elaborated on the process.

“We have meetings with the principals and athletic directors of both schools to talk about possible rivalries and to make sure there is no reason students may be put into harm’s way. There are also uniformed officers at each event,” McNeely said.

The school district also has a safety hotline that students can call to report anything that they may hear by word of mouth or social networking. In fact, McNeely and Boroff both stress that the most important thing a student can do to help maintain a safe environment at school is to keep their eyes and ears open and report anything they find suspicious. Even if they think it might be a joke, it is safer to let an adult know before something terrible occurs.

“The single biggest thing a student can do to keep themselves and others safe is to listen, listen, listen. Students hear more than any staff member possibly could and they need to not be afraid to come forward with what they know,” McNeely said.

Boroff offered some statistics on just how important reporting is for school safety.

“[About] 80% of the incidents that happen at school someone knew about it beforehand and possibly could have prevented it if they had simply told someone what they knew,” Boroff said.

This is not foolproof, as students cannot possibly predict an act of violence that might come from outside of the school. There is also a responsibility for parents to stay vigilant and report anything they might see or hear. Parents must educate their children as to what possible danger signs are and what they should do if there ever was a tragedy. On the other hand, parents must not be afraid to send their children to school. McNeely explained the reasoning behind this.

“Statistically speaking students are far safer at school than they are at home; more children are killed each year driving to school than those who die in school shootings,” McNeely said.

After the shootings at schools like Chardon High School and Sandy Hook Elementary School, there was a call for Congress to pass new gun control laws that would make it harder to commit crimes like these in the future. Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) spoke out against any weakening of the gun control laws already in place; in a press release he stated his opinion.

“Given the gun violence we see all over our nation, it’s disheartening that some want to amend the gun safety legislation in such a way that would ultimately allow individuals to carry guns virtually anywhere in the country,” Schumer said.

Schumer feels that new laws such as mandatory background searches, no matter where a person purchases a gun, need to be created. In doing so, background searches would end the so called “gun show” loop-hole. He also thinks there should be more bans on magazine size, which is the number of bullets per gun clip, and fire rate, which is the number of bullets shot per unit of time in America.

Not all feel the same as Schumer, however, that the solution to the problem is to simply make it harder to find a gun. Many feel that if someone truly desires to acquire a gun to commit a crime they would also be willing to break the law to get it. McNeely feels that there are sufficient laws currently in place so that people who want guns for pure reasons can still purchase one, but deter people who are wishing to commit a crime. One of these procedures is that everyone who buys a gun must have their background checked and there is a waiting period. McNeely commented on the current state of gun control laws.

“There are sufficient precautions in place to prevent people from buying guns too easily; if any changes are made it should be to the punishment protocols for people found to have purchased guns with the intent to harm others,” McNeely said.

While tragedies will never cease to exist, much can be done to reduce the severity and number of incidences. Administrators have already done much to keep students in school safe, and yet even more changes are on the way. New laws and amendments have been proposed but the process is slow and for good reason. No student should attend school in fear, but a sense of security is possible, though the danger will never be nonexistent.