The Senate Goes To Highschool
As many of you have heard, there was a breach in the capitol last week when a pro-trump protest turned violent. A lesser known fact is that a woman was shot and killed by a capitol guard during the protest. Her name was Ashli Babbitt, and she was a retired Air Force Veteran from California. She was shot while attempting to climb into the capitol building. An investigation is being conducted to look into her death, but it is unlikely that the officer will be charged due to her illegal and threatening behavior.
Along with this, there are rumors that the protesters had guns and dangerous gases in their possession during the breach. This, along with the breach, is what led to the congressmen and women being hustled away to “safe” locations for safety purposes. These “safe” rooms being offices and conference rooms. While in these rooms, they were told to lay low to the ground and barricade the doors with desks, filing cabinets, and other heavy things they could find. They were told to put on gas masks and to remain silent. Sound familiar? This is nearly identical to the active shooter procedures that students are taught in school.
This poses the question; were the senators actually safe in those rooms? In my opinion, no they were not. In no way do I feel like I would be safe during an active shooting. A two-inch thick plastic desk would not stop a bullet from reaching me. A simple lock on the door would not stop an intruder from breaking into my classroom. A heavy textbook would do nothing to stop a bullet. I hope that the senators are realizing this too. I hope that living through an active shooting will help them understand that desks and textbooks would not win against a gun. I hope that these people will realize that more help is needed in the American school system; whether that means caring about the mental health of students more, making stricter gun laws, or creating new procedures to stop and protect against these shootings.
Do you think the senators were safe in the capitol? Why or why not?
Do you think that our current active shooter protocols protect us enough? Why or why not?
Do you think that living through this experience will convince lawmakers to take action?
What types of actions do you think lawmakers should take to prevent school shootings?
Works Cited
Joe Heim, Valerie Strauss. “As U.S. Capitol Attack Unfolded, Some Hill Staffers Remembered Their School-Shooting Drills.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 14 Jan. 2021, www.washingtonpost.com/education/hill-staffers-school-shooting-drills/2021/01/14/3fe783d0-55e7-11eb-a931-5b162d0d033d_story.html.
Replies
Well done Ava!!
I do not feel like the senators were safe during the storming of the Capitol. While there were many police officers there, they did practically nothing to stop the rioters from getting inside the building and walking around. I don't think we're protected enough in schools, and I don't think our protocols are good enough to save us from a shooter. I hope this convinced lawmakers to take better action for school's protection because if that didn't, then I don't know what will. We need stricter gun laws for the safety of citizens and maybe school security in bigger cities that can afford it/have had a past of shootings.
I agree with you about the safety of the senators, however, I don't think the police did nothing to keep the people out. There are videos of the police pushing people back and fighting with them as well. It is not their faul that they were overpowered. I'm sure once they realized they were outnumbered they focused more on their own safety and damage control rather than trying to stop everything without backup.
I feel that the senators were safe in the capitol because I’m sure the buildings were designed to help protect people in situations like this. I am hopeful that the active shooter protocols we have in place would protect us if it were a short time until the police arrived. However I feel that after a few hours we may not be safe any more as the shooter may begin to figure out different strategies. I think that lawmakers may rethink everything just to make sure everything is safe in case things like this happen again and potentially get worse. As far as schools, I feel like the buildings should have a door in each english class, math class, etc. that leads to a room where all of the english classes, math classes, etc. meet that nobody except for the students and staff knows about. The room could be bulletproof and the door could have no windows. Then the teacher and students could sit in the room until it is safe to go back to class.
Personally I do not think that the senators were safe. If the intruders were carrying guns and harmful gas a door would not have been able to stop them. I do not think that the current precautions taken will protect us from active shooters. The teachers tell us to throw books and scissors at them, but will that stop a bullet? More than likely it will not. Unfortunately, I don't think that this will convince them to keep us safer. I feel that most of them are worried about their safety rather than the safety of the future. I believe that the lawmakers should require schools to have security guards or metal detectors to come into the school. They could also just require schools to take more precautions than just locking the door.
I agree with you. I think that new laws should be made to protect schools. Things such as metal detectors, bag searches, and mental health services can all to contirbute and help stop school shootings from happening. I also don't think that this will convince lawmakers to change. Hopefully they will eventually realize that we need more help keeping schools safe.
I don't think the senators were safe in the capitol because if they were found they could've been killed or taken hostage. Also, our current protocols are doing enough. Multiple doors in the school can't even lock correctly. I hope that lawmakers will take a little action atleast.
I think with the protection that the capitol has they were plenty safe. I don't really think we're that safe with the protocals we have today because we aren't guarded with things that would push an intruder away because a book won't do that. Their is a good chance this will happen because we can't have these things happening it shows weakness to other countries. guard schools with something to try and scare the intruder away like having a police officer watching the school once a day and making sure nothing bad happens.
I disagree. I don't think the protection was at the capitol was adequate. They weren't expecting the protesters to break into the capitol, so they didn't have enough guards there to protect the senators inside. They should have had a lot more security and probably should have set up barriers as well to keep protestors at bay.
In my opinion, I do not think the senators were safe in the capitol. If it is true that the protesters had guns and gas on them, they could have easily gotten to the senators. These protesters easily got past the guards and into the capital. They could break down doors that are held shut by chairs and desks. I would hope lawmakers take action after they lived through this experience.
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