We are indeed a violent society.

Movies, video games and CDs carry advisory warnings for violent and profane content, though many people seem eager to snatch them up. Security cameras seem to sprout up everywhere, just to let people know that they’re being watched. The U.S. has the highest ratio, per capita, of serial killers of any industrialized nation.

So is it really a surprise that we also seem to have a higher number of school shootings?

Of course, the 1999 shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado are the great impetus behind
school safety reforms and enhancements over the past eight years, forcing school officials to rethink how they should prepare for the worst.

Locally, many people remember the shock and disbelief after hearing that six-year-old Kayla Rolland was shot by a six-year-old classmate at Buell Elementary in Flint in 2000.

In April, a delusional student killed 32 people, wounding many more, at Virginia Tech — a vivid reminder that those we most treasure can also be the most violent. A government report released last month actually had the temerity to blame school officials for not stopping the shootings early enough. Never mind that even if officials had put the university in lockdown, police still would have to catch the shooter.

So schools everywhere have devised new ways to insure students’ safety. The Grand Blanc school board voted in August to give the district the power to punish students for libelous remarks and cyber bullying for comments made on the students’ home computers. Goodrich schools plan to revamp building entrances if the district passes a proposed construction bond, which is still in limbo. Most districts lock school doors during school hours, requiring visitors to sign in at the main office.

Atherton schools took the most aggressive and commendable protective measures a step further last week, hosting a mock school shooting with school staff and school patrol officers from Grand Blanc and Flint townships, Burton, Swartz Creek and Flushing.

“This is done not to criticize or scold, but to see what we need to work on,” said Supt. Mark Madden. “It’s sad we have to do this today.”

A police officer acted as a school shooter, school staff rushed to their classrooms, locking their
doors, and police stormed the school.

“We aren’t going to save everybody, that’s a fact. But we are going to save as many people as we can,” said Lt. Bob Battinkoff of Flint Twp. Teachers were directed not to open their classroom doors once in lockdown, even if a student was outside the door begging to be let in. Battinkoff told teachers they don’t know how close the shooter is, or if the student wanting in is the shooter.

While this may seem callous to most of us who believe in the American way of leaving no one behind, it is a harsh reality we must face.

Realistically, the only way to make sure every school is secure is to build an impenetrable wall around schools with armed guards and metal detectors at checkpoints, searching everyone as they enter the building. Or do a better job of identifying students with potentially violent warning signs, remove them from school and get them the help they need.

Most students are good kids, and hopefully most will never find themselves in such a tragic situation. The harsh reality is that we have to prepare for the worst and, ultimately, be prepared to decide who can be saved and who cannot.

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