Nobody likes to think it could happen here but talking about this big issue is necessary. Since this is such a heavy topic, I am giving a bit of a disclaimer. This article will mention lockdowns, school shootings, and traumatic events. If this is triggering to you, please do not read it. This topic presented itself after I learned about the Apalachee High School shooting on September 4th in Winder, Georgia. Two students and two teachers were killed, and nine students and one teacher were injured. This made me wonder why it keeps happening. How could these shooters keep getting in? Then I landed on the question, will school lockdown protocols keep students safe? 

According to adt.com, a home security/monitoring company, most school lockdown procedures are the same. A paragraph written by adt.com lockdown procedure states, “Teachers must close and lock all doors and windows and then barricade them. If students remain in the hallways, bring them in. Account for every student in the room, and notify school administrators of missing students or students you brought into the classroom. Never open doors or windows without permission from safety or school officials. Turn off all lights and tell students to stay low and away from windows and doors. Keep students quiet and out of sight from the doorway.”

For this article, I interviewed our assistant principal at Dover High School, Mr Ayers, about his thoughts on our lockdown procedures. He stated, “If there are barricades, if there are doors locked, if there are ways to combat someone getting in, then they typically go on to the next door or try to go to the next place because, in their eyes, time is always a factor. So by doing those types of things, by locking down, by trying to barricade, is kind of the proven way to keep kids safe.” Mr Ayers brought out a good point that changed my perspective. Time is a big factor in an intruder’s plans. If they get to a classroom that is locked and barricaded they are not going to spend five minutes trying to get the door open because most often their goal is to hurt as many people as possible. The only other possibility is if they are looking for one person specifically. In this case, the intruder might spend five minutes trying to open the door because they are looking for only one person. 

I also had the pleasure of interviewing a freshman student, Will Pilcher. I also asked him what his thoughts were about our lockdown procedures. He said, “I think that most people would be safe. There are still some injured, or maybe even killed. But I think that with the procedures there would be a lot of people who might have been injured that are safe.” I agree with him on this. As a student, I believe that with lockdown procedures, a lot of us would be safe, but there would still be people killed. 

I also asked Will if there was anything he would change about the school lockdown procedure that would make it more effective, and he said, “Everything is data-driven, but the big thing would be if we could guarantee where a person was we would flee so knowing where a person was. We practice because practice makes perfect. So I guess maybe practicing a little harder, like when you barricade you truly barricade, trying to get it as high as you can. But what we have in place in the best case scenario.” I think having a way to guarantee where someone is is something that school administrations should look into because that way we can evacuate more kids. I also think that more schools need to treat lockdown drills like the real thing. I feel that not everyone takes it seriously. When we do lockdown drills at my school, students talk loudly, walk around the room, and laugh. They don’t feel like it’s a big deal so they don’t treat it like a big deal. I’m not saying that these realistic lockdown drills should be so extreme that they traumatize students, but they need to be real enough that they can stop laughing and learn the procedures.

I also asked Will if he would change anything about our school lockdown procedures. He said, “I think instead of prioritizing staying in the classroom to stay safe, the staff should prioritize getting out of the building if possible and trying to get as far from the threat as possible.” I also think that schools should prioritize getting out, as I stated in the previous paragraph. 

Dover High School was recently rebuilt and has a nice modern look, but there are two walls made entirely out of glass that I was scared would be an easy entry point. Here is what Mr. Ayers said, “We have taken steps to kind of help with that; we’ve put on shatter-resistant film.” I believe that just having shatter-resistant film isn’t enough. According to wkrn.com, “the heavy-duty polyester film bonds to glass with strong adhesives, and while not completely bulletproof, Love said it provides defense against break-ins, vandalism, and severe weather,” (WKRN News 6). This shatter-resistant film can deter intruders but doesn’t prevent them from getting in eventually. If someone were dead set on getting in, they wouldn’t stop until they broke through the glass. Mr Ayers also stated, “Typically the way that these things have happened, truthfully, haven’t been through windows and things. They’ve just walked up to doors and been able to get through unlocked doors and stuff.” While I see Mr. Ayers point, I respectfully disagree with this statement because multiple intruders have gotten into schools through glass doors and windows—for example, the shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee in 2023. The shooter, Aiden Hale, shot through the glass doors; even though it took him extra time, he wasn’t going to stop until he got in. 

I asked Will if the amount of glass in the building felt like a danger to him. He stated, “I think it could be a danger. If someone were to have a weapon, I feel that it would be a pretty easy point of entry like a window at the front of the school. If they are planning to open fire, it would be an easy way to attack some students. I think it definitely could be a danger to students if something were to happen.” I think it is a danger to students since it is such an easy point of entry. 

After interviewing both a student and a teacher and doing other research, I believe that I have an answer to the question of whether school lockdown procedures keep us safe. I think that the answer is no. Lockdown procedures would help prevent more kids from being killed, but students would still be killed and injured. Because of the barricades, the intruder wouldn’t get into many classrooms, and because of the shatter-resistant film, the intruder wouldn’t have time to go to many classrooms. I believe they would still hurt some students, but not as many as there would be if we didn’t have lockdown procedures. Overall, I think our country needs to reevaluate the problem and change lockdown procedures to be more effective. Things we could change could include adding bullet-proof glass to school windows and doors and working on developing a way for classes to know where the shooter is so they can get out and away.