(WWJ) – There’s little argument over the desire to keep kids and teachers safe in schools. But there’s little agreement on the best way to accomplish that.
Once again, in the days following the Texas school shooting, that conversation has come to the fore – a conversation that seems to be becoming one we’re having all too frequently.
Kids, parents and teachers are all thinking about the best ways to protect themselves. In a new edition of The Daily J podcast, WWJ’s Zach Clark spoke to some experts to try to find the best ways to do that.
While seemingly nothing is universally agreed upon anymore, he found it seems most people can agree on one thing – finding a way to stop “wanton and needless violence” like what was seen in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday.
That includes Rick Ector, lifetime NRA member and owner of Rick’s Firearm Academy in Detroit. Wanting to keep kids safe is hard to object to, but the next step is where people get caught up – how is that done?
“We definitely want to implement policies that are going to protect and safeguard those who are most vulnerable, and the best way that we can do that, in my opinion, is to 1) reduce gun-free zones and 2) I think that we also need to ensure that we take security and safety at our schools and make it our highest priority,” Ector said.
It may be no surprise that Ector, a gun advocate, doesn’t see guns as the issue. He sees mental health as the issue.
It can sometimes be difficult to spot unstable children, but experts are looking for ways to ease that struggle.
John Collins, a firearm expert and former director of forensic science for the state of Michigan, is putting in work to try and find a potential solution through an app called SchoolSuite.
Collins, an advisor to the production team of SchoolSuite, says the software platform would allow a school principal to “have access to a lot more information about the wellbeing of his or her students.”
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He says the software would “make the students the solution to the problem,” as they report things that may seem off.
Collins feels the most effective way to eliminate school shootings is identifying students who need help and getting them the help they need.
Dr. Justin Heinze, from the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health is working on two studies about school safety and violence prevention. He tells Clark officials are looking for ways to cut down violence in schools, and there are several big questions.
“Where can we find an intervention point a week before a shooting happens, a month before a shooting happens? Is it promoting school climate? Is it doing a better job of monitoring what students are saying online, recognizing those signs and symptoms that someone may be a danger to themself or others?”
He says “treating mental health across an entire student population as a priority and making sure that we can identify students who are struggling” is a big part of this conversation.
As for arming teachers – a talking point that pops up after seemingly every school shooting – Heinze says he hasn’t found any data through his research to support either side of the argument.
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