Buffalo Boy's Blog

After an 11 year old brought a gun to school, the Buffalo School District is considering metal detectors in the schools. I have to say from a common sense point of view I really think its over reacting.

In any school district and more likely than not, any city school you are going to have your share of incidents but kids actually bringing guns to school are rare. How would you like your kids to see the above scene every time they walk in the door of their school?

Don't you think they will feel a little intimidated? Some would say yes and respond by saying that that is how they should feel in school.

I beg to differ. Kids need to feel safe and maybe metal detectors would provide that safety, but kids also need to feel trusted. They need to feel they are in a caring and sensitive environment or as one book I read put it, a "brain friendly" environment.

Seeing and going through a metal detector every day would not be my idea of a brain friendly learning environment and realistically would put everyone from the students to the faculty on edge right from the time they walk in the door in the morning. That is not how you want to start 180 days of the year. Kids would feel threatened right from the start and its asking for more behaviors as soon as they walk through that metal detector.

There have got to be other solutions to the issue of violence and specifically, if it really is that common of an occurance, weapons in school. What I haven't heard a lot of is that this child was caught with the gun without incidence. No metal detector necessary.