THURMONT, MD - Professor Barbara Marinak has grabbed the attention of Knott Auditorium at Mount St. Mary's University. She's talking about her stance on school safety and guns.
"After Columbine, we locked school buildings. After Virginia Tech we locked classrooms," says Professor Marinak, Associate Professor of Education at Mount St. Mary's. "We told teachers to secure and place, and in fact the FBI is telling us now they're profiling many, many school shootings and that's not the most effective way to train teachers."
Professor Marinak's background in Education is extensive. A former superintendent, she says educators are being faced with tough decisions.
"There are 18 states that have what I would call much more relaxed policies about educators or employees bringing weapons into schools," says Marinak. "All they have to do is let the principal know."
Texas, New York and Connecticut are on that list.
"I don't think it's a good idea really for them to be carrying weapons," says Oscar Machado, a Senior at Mount St. Mary's. "They have security guards and police officers to do that because, really, weapons shouldn't be around adolescents whatsoever."
Schools are also debating whether or not School Resource Officers (SROs) should be allowed to be armed inside schools.
Metal detectors are also being discussed. They've been used in urban schools for decades, now they're being looked at in more rural and suburban areas.
"I would get wanded everyday and your book bag would go through a metal detector so they would see, kind of like at the airport where they would see what's in it, and I thought that was normal," says Brenda Balcarcel, Mount St. Mary's Senior. "I thought it was surprising that suburban schools don't have that."
Financial aid will more than likely be provided for these safety measures. A measure many educators hope doesn't need to be taken.
Professor Marinak says, "I think zero tolerance is zero tolerance. I think the more weapons we have in school buildings the more potential there is for an accident or something horrific to happen."
These states allow educators and school employees to bring a weapon to school with some restrictions:
Alabama
California
Connecticut
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Montana
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Oregon
Rhode Island
Texas
Utah
Wyoming
"After Columbine, we locked school buildings. After Virginia Tech we locked classrooms," says Professor Marinak, Associate Professor of Education at Mount St. Mary's. "We told teachers to secure and place, and in fact the FBI is telling us now they're profiling many, many school shootings and that's not the most effective way to train teachers."
Professor Marinak's background in Education is extensive. A former superintendent, she says educators are being faced with tough decisions.
"There are 18 states that have what I would call much more relaxed policies about educators or employees bringing weapons into schools," says Marinak. "All they have to do is let the principal know."
Texas, New York and Connecticut are on that list.
"I don't think it's a good idea really for them to be carrying weapons," says Oscar Machado, a Senior at Mount St. Mary's. "They have security guards and police officers to do that because, really, weapons shouldn't be around adolescents whatsoever."
Schools are also debating whether or not School Resource Officers (SROs) should be allowed to be armed inside schools.
Metal detectors are also being discussed. They've been used in urban schools for decades, now they're being looked at in more rural and suburban areas.
"I would get wanded everyday and your book bag would go through a metal detector so they would see, kind of like at the airport where they would see what's in it, and I thought that was normal," says Brenda Balcarcel, Mount St. Mary's Senior. "I thought it was surprising that suburban schools don't have that."
Financial aid will more than likely be provided for these safety measures. A measure many educators hope doesn't need to be taken.
Professor Marinak says, "I think zero tolerance is zero tolerance. I think the more weapons we have in school buildings the more potential there is for an accident or something horrific to happen."
These states allow educators and school employees to bring a weapon to school with some restrictions:
Alabama
California
Connecticut
Hawaii
Idaho
Iowa
Kentucky
Massachusetts
Mississippi
Montana
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Oregon
Rhode Island
Texas
Utah
Wyoming
