In 1994 an article written by Evelyn Gilmore was published in the Raider Review titled “School Board Rejects New Safety Proposals.” Featured in the article were potential policies that ended up being denied by the county. The policies included clear backpacks, metal detectors, police presence, and locker searches. A few of these may sound familiar; that is because these policies are in place today. Back in the 1990s these policies were supported by the P.G. Federation of Teachers but denied by the school board for reasons that were undisclosed. Due to the uptick in school violence in recent years, these problems have become impossible to ignore, forcing reconsideration on the previously denied policies. These policies were added to Prince Georges County Public Schools (PGCPS) at the start of the 2023-2024 school year.
On the news everyday we hear more and more about different dangerous and life-threatening events taking place in schools. One of the most fatal of these events was on September 4, 2024, at Apalachee High school in Georgia where 2 students and 2 teachers passed away. Many similar accidents have been a result of students who brought weapons to school, which is why metal detectors and clear bags have been implemented in PGCPS high schools. We see so much violence in our school systems today that we don’t realize how bad things used to be. Back in the 90s when the security policies were denied, violence in schools was much more common and a threat to students’ education. One of the most violent school shootings in US history was in 1999 at Columbine high school. The massacre left 13 dead and around 20 injured, and the 2 offenders even took their own lives after the event. Although PGCPS did not have metal detectors, clear bags, or police during this time, many other counties did. It got to a point where the United States issued a Gun-Free School Zones Act in 1990 to limit the number of weapons brought to schools.
As stated on statista.com there have been 58 school shootings so far in the past year. On graphs illustrated by news.northeastern.edu the number of school shootings have gone down since the 90s. The graphs are featured in an article written in 2018 and doesn’t have any information regarding recent years, but it still gives us a look as to how large of a problem school violence was then. It even goes into saying that more kids die drowning or in bicycle accidents than during school shootings. Although, this shouldn’t take away from all the danger we see now, school shootings are a big issue, and they rather give reason as to why we have so many security measures in school and why violence has been going down.
Students all across this county and many others have gotten used to using clear bags, going through metal detectors every morning, and seeing police officers around their school and that may not be such a bad thing. With these policies in place things have been improving and will hopefully continue to improve as the years progress.