DENVER—If a 1999 high school graduate returned to his alma mater today, he might be surprised to find the front door locked. He’d probably be stopped by faculty asking for identification. An armed officer might patrol campus.
In April 1999, Columbine High School students Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris opened fire at their suburban high school, killing 13 and wounding 23 before committing suicide. The massacre prompted schools nationwide to install metal detectors, fences, ID badges, dress codes, security patrols and surveillance cameras.
But despite the security measures, school crime numbers haven’t gone down much since 1999, said Ronald Stephens, executive director of the National School Safety Center in Westlake, Calif.
During the 2006-2007 academic year, schools reported 27 homicides and 8 suicides of children between the ages of 5 and 18, according to a new U.S. Department of Education report.
In the 1998-1999 school year, 33 homicides and 4 suicides were reported—including those at Columbine.
In 1999, 7.7 percent of high schoolers reported being threatened with a weapon at school, compared to 7.8 percent in 2007, the department said.
The challenge, according to Stephens: “How to create a climate of advanced awareness and supervision without making you feel like you’ve been down to the local juvenile hall?”
Stephens said research suggests “the single most effective strategy for keeping schools safe is the physical presence of a responsible adult.”
He cited a 1999 incident at Holland Woods Middle School in Port Huron, Mich. Tipped off by a student, school officials there foiled a plot by a group of students who had vowed to “make Columbine look like kindergarten stuff,” he said.
Afterward, school officials decided, “We’re not going to ban book bags, we’re not going to eliminate lockers, we’re not going to have mandated uniforms. We’re going to get to know our students better,” said Stephens, who worked with the school as a consultant.
“I’m knocking on wood—we’ve been very successful. I think the school district is safer” since the changes were made, said assistant superintendent Ron Wollen.
Columbine principal Frank DeAngelis insists the biggest deterrent to violence is an environment where students feel comfortable and trusted, not imprisoned.
After the shootings, DeAngelis struggled to balance safety and students’ rights. The school installed a comprehensive security camera system and keyless entry cards for faculty.
“I had some kids come in and say, ‘Mr. D, this isn’t high school, this is a prison or a fortress. And this is not what I signed up for.’ … I had a kid make a T-shirt that said, ‘If we offend, they suspend.'”
“Young people tend to rise to the level of perceived trust we’re giving them,” said Stephens.
Colorado’s Safe2Tell program encourages students to give tips about bullying or classmates who might be depressed or suicidal and has been one of the most effective school security tools, said John McDonald, director of security for Jefferson County Public Schools, which includes Columbine.
“How do we get the kid help today so we don’t have a problem tomorrow?” McDonald said. “We only need one student brave enough to pick up the phone.”
DeAngelis said his own version of Safe2Tell, “Mr. D’s Anonymous Tip Box,” has prevented more than a couple of student suicides.
Before the shooting, Columbine had only a few cameras, mostly to catch students who didn’t clear their cafeteria tables. “Klebold and Harris knew that we had those,” DeAngelis said. “They were actually posing for the cameras on that day.”
He doesn’t think Columbine’s state-of-the-art surveillance system would have stopped Harris and Klebold.
“The question I ask myself is, if we would have had metal detectors in place, if we would have had some of these other suggestions in place that were made to me, would it have stopped it?” The answer, DeAngelis said, was, “no.”
“The million-dollar question is what caused so much hate in the hearts of Klebold and Harris?” he added. “And when they died, they took those answers with them.”
———
On the Net:
Safe2Tell:
National School Safety Center:
National Center for Education Statistics Indicators of School Crime and Safety Report:
