Schools intend to exist as a safe place for students to learn and connect with others, but their safety gets continuously called into question. Schools around the country have been struck by hate crimes against marginalized groups, fights between students, threats of violence and mass shootings. These events in American schools show no signs of slowing, and the debate over how to stop them has become increasingly heated and politicized.

Gun violence in particular has threatened Americans for decades, with violent incidents rapidly increasing in recent years. This development especially endangers young Americans, as gun violence has spread into schools. According to CNN, there were 13 school shootings in 2010 in the United States, compared to 82 school shootings in 2023. The U.S. also led the world with 288 school shootings between 2009 and 2018, while Mexico, the second highest, only had eight according to World Population Review.

Despite not being the first school shooting to occur, many people see the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in 1999, when two students murdered 13 people, as an appalling wake-up call that put the issue of school security in the national spotlight. Heavy media coverage informed millions around the country and the world about the tragedy that unfolded, launching the debate over how to improve school security measures. Many believe the shooting inspired several “copycat crimes” in which perpetrators of other shootings took inspiration from and used similar tactics to the Columbine shooters.

Since the Columbine shooting, attacks on schools have become more common. In 2012, a shooter killed 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, including 20 children between six and seven years old. In 2018, a former student killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and in 2022, a shooter murdered 21 people at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, including 19 fourth graders. According to the Washington Post, more than 338,000 students in the U.S. have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine, and there have already been 35 school shootings that resulted in injuries or deaths in 2024 according to Education Week.

The alarming increase in school shootings across America has resulted in companies producing more products and services to combat them. According to the National Institute of Justice, U.S. schools spend around $3 billion per year on security measures. Some common technology purchased are door locks, security cameras, first-aid kits, metal detectors, lockdown shades and bulletproof whiteboards. However, many see these solutions as a temporary fix to the larger, underlying issues, like mental health, that contribute to school shootings in the first place. Even with the massive amount of money spent on security measures, the amount of school shootings has continued to rise. 

With 43.1% of school shootings being perpetrated by students according to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security, schools, parents and educators frequently debate over punishments for students violating safety rules. President Bill Clinton signed the Gun-Free Schools Act in 1994, which mandated the notification of law enforcement if a student brought a firearm to school. It also mandated that other offenses, including possessing dangerous drugs, would result in severe punishments. However, even with this added enforcement, violence in schools continued to increase in the decades following the passage of the act. Moreover, the law led to an increase in arrests of students of color and harsh punishments for minor infractions according to NPR.

People disagree on how to solve the problem of school security. Many Republicans and conservatives believe that the government needs to invest funds in better security and protections, including student resource officers, security cameras and even suggestions of arming teachers. In September, Republican Vice President-elect JD Vance called school shootings a “fact of life” and called for stopping shootings with protection measures and preventing them by improving the mental health of students. 

Democrats and liberals, however, believe in preventing shootings by restricting the types and number of guns people have in general. Many Democrat-led states have red flag laws, which permit state courts to temporarily seize someone’s firearms if they are deemed a threat. They also support banning certain types of guns such as assault weapons. However, opponents claim that these tactics violate the Second Amendment in the U.S. Constitution, which protects the right to bear arms. While Democrats agree with Republicans that improving mental health is an important prevention mechanism, they also criticize Republicans for using mental health to deflect from better gun control.

Sophomore Mason Pape thinks that the reason why the issue has not been solved is because it may require aspects of multiple ideas to fix it. “It’s not one straightforward path. It’s definitely a complicated issue,” he said. The controversial issue of fixing school safety around the country does not have an obvious answer, but while the debate rages on, the tragedies in the nation’s schools continue with no end in sight.

A poll of 50 students was conducted by The Viewer to assess Mounds View students’ feelings on the school security.

Matt Goldsmith, more commonly known as “Goldy,” has been Mounds View’s front security monitor for years. In his office is a buzzer, an ID scanner and a large monitor with eight screens of security camera footage covering every nook and cranny of the school. Every day, Goldy monitors who comes in and out of the building. The increased surveillance of students is only one example of how Mounds View has tightened their security measures to reflect the increased concerns over school security threats and shootings.

Since 2019, Mounds View has restricted the ability for people to freely get in and out of the building. The remodel in the 2019 construction added the security office where Goldy and paraeducator  Dan Engebretson reside. Although the vestibule was already there before the remodel, the second set of doors usually remained unlocked. Students and visitors could walk into the building and then check in at a desk with Goldy at the front of the commons. “If somebody wasn’t supposed to be in the building, we had already kind of let them in. So that’s kind of a problem, not the best practice, not the best way to do it, right? So now we’re stopping them here before they enter the building, and we’re able to find out what their purpose is, why they’re here, who they want to see, what they want to do,” said Goldy. 

Students who come in during school hours check in using their Student ID. Visitors are screened via a security software called RAPTOR Technologies. “We take the identification or the driver’s license, run it through the software program. That will clear that person just about always, and then it makes a badge. We put that badge on that person. Now we identify that person [as] somebody who’s allowed to be in the building, and we also know where they’re supposed to be,” said Goldy. 

Mounds View staff also enforce the policy that both visitors and students should use only the front doors for all entering and exiting. Although some students find it inconvenient, this allows staff members to keep close tabs on who comes in and out of the building, especially when they stand outside the building and in the commons in the morning. “If kids always come in and out of [the front doors], we have control. [If] the kids are going out other doors, we lose control, especially if they’re coming in,” said Goldy. 

With the growing awareness around school security, teachers go through new safety and security training every year with the Ramsey County Sheriff Office. “We work really closely with Ramsey County to make sure [to follow] what they understand as best practice and best safety protocol, and I take their considerations and feedback really seriously, and I think that we as the building and staff have to make sure that we’re living up to those recommendations,” said Alexandra Runnals, English teacher. Mounds View Public Schools also has a crisis handbook, which is broken down by school and situation. 

One safety procedure that staff members are trained for is the Standard Response Protocol (SRP), which Mounds View implemented in 2023. The SRP replaced the previous lingo of “soft” and “hard” lockdowns as a standardized approach to handle a wider scope of emergency situations according to Mounds View SRO Andrea Giles. Posters are located throughout the school with icons displaying the various drills—hold, secure, lockdown, evacuate and shelter. In a lockdown, for example, Mounds View follows the motto “Locks, Lights, Out of Sight.”  

Although drills like these improve safety at Mounds View, some Mounds View teachers had concerns about implementing these drills when they were introduced to the design of the new flex space wings in the 2019 remodel. The full-length glass windows and movable clear doors posed a potential safety hazard during security threats, especially for remaining out of sight. “I was a little bothered when the design for those came out because of the glass walls and the movable stuff, and I know teachers who ended up in those classrooms also expressed concerns about, ‘What do we do? You know, even during drills?’” said Runnals. However, now there are safety buttons that automatically lock the entire flex space areas when pressed, which Runnals states has helped mitigate her fears. 

Mounds View has adapted their security policies to keep up with new technology and improved security practices. Even with the policies in place now, school security continues to be a pressing issue. “I know that a lot of people think what’s happening in the world will never happen here, and I would hope that that never happens here, but if we think that it never will, we won’t plan for it to happen,” said Giles. 

A poll of 50 students was conducted by The Viewer to assess Mounds View students’ feelings on the school security.

Across the United States, school security is a prominent issue, but safety, including from student fights, bullying and discrimination, often varies between schools. Specific elements make some schools in the U.S. safer than others, including the student-teacher connections, academic achievement, demographic differences and implemented safety measures.

According to a study done by the University of Chicago Urban Education Institute, safety is correlated with students’ relationships with their staff and teachers. One example the paper includes is that in one Chicago high school classified as “unsafe,” 98% of teachers reported disrespect from their students, whereas in a school classified as a safe school, only 10% of teachers reported feeling disrespected. Even schools that reside in the most conventionally dangerous areas but have high-quality relationships between teachers and students have a similar level of safety as schools in conventionally safe areas.

The study also explains that the level of academic drive plays a role in school safety. It notes that there is a positive correlation between higher levels of academic achievement and school safety. On the other hand, schools that enroll more students who struggle academically are more likely to have issues with safety. Such schools must focus on safety concerns and make strong efforts to form trusting relationships in order to create environments conducive to learning according to the study.

An engaged environment has the reverse effect. Schools with academically-engaged learning environments have students whose primary goal in school is to perform well in class. These students are less likely to act out, and when they do, they respond to academic punishment, creating safer school environments. 

Another important consideration regarding school safety is that while a school can be physically safe, students may still not feel safe. One big factor that contributes to feeling safe is whether or not a student is a minority. For example, according to a study by the Journal of School Nursing in 2018, LGBTQ+ youth are more likely to feel unsafe than their peers, and students of color feel less safe than white students. This is because these minority groups often fear bullying, ridicule and exclusion. 

While minorities have different experiences at different schools, Mounds View has reported relatively few incidents of discrimination. “Mounds View is a bit more inviting,” said junior Noah Kebede. He expressed that he feels more safe in Mounds View than in his former school, Como High School, where he feels teachers cared less about student performance than at Mounds View.

Moreover, safety protocols can make students feel less safe. The Journal of Nursing also notes that certain safety mechanisms such as metal detectors and digital surveillance technology can actually amplify fears and stressors around school safety. As an example, walking through metal detectors serves as a reminder of potential danger, leading students to feel less safe.

The U.S. also stresses safety measures much more than other countries. For instance, the United States is one of the only countries in the world that has schools perform mandatory lockdown drills. Exchange student and junior José Garia Garces noted that he felt safer in his school in Spain as opposed to at Mounds View. “We don’t have [SROs] in my school, because we don’t need it… nothing’s going to happen,” said Garcia Garces. He said that he sees certain safety protocols as unnecessary and felt more safe in Spain because of the lack of guns there.

Security and safety come from a multitude of places, circumstances and relationships. Knowing where feelings of unsafety and threats come from is the first step in making schools places of security, not peril.