In the wake of the Newtown tragedy, many Port Washington parents have expressed concerns about school security.
The Port Washington School District is collaborating with Port Washington and Sands Point police, which this week increased its presence around the schools. It is also encouraging parents to attend the Jan. 8 school board meeting to share concerns.
Which leads to the questions: how much more would you like to see in terms of security? More high tech security? More paid guards?
I can see this being another excuse to greatly increase the school budget
That it is legal to own a gun that is only useful to militia, a gun that fires 50 rounds a minute is what this country needs to be addressing. A lock on a door is cosmetic if someone attacks a school. Lanza broke through the security and attacked Sandy Hook Elementary School. Nobody is willing to remove all guns from civilian hands. People feel that "the right to bear arms", to own firearms, is their right. As long as this proliferates and as long as there are no national regulations, people will travel to buy guns, own guns and use them. Of course, even with stronger laws, there will always be those who break the law. In some states, it is illegal to choose who you love, but having an arsenal of guns that can annihilate innocents, no problem. Fifty rounds a minute. Fifty rounds a minute. Fifty rounds a minute.
I also believe that if some crazy decides to do something like this, there is no easy answer as to what we can do to help prevent it. I wish I did. Perhaps more support for the people that demonstrate signs of mental illness along with the propensity for violence?
which was covered on the news this morning. Besides guns laws there needs to be more focuse on the shooter. Tell tale signs that something might not be right need to be looked into and not ignored. Ask yourself why would a mother have so many weapons in their home? Why were the guns and rifles readily accessable to the children? More important is why did a mother who previously warned the baby sitter about her sons problems take the same son to target practice? In schools there needs to be a more concerned effort to help the bullied child or the one who comes across as an outcast. These seem to be common threads amongst many of those who commit such acts. You can not sit back and say we thought something might have been wrong we need to say something seems wrong lets look into it. I do strongly feel that gun laws need to be re-examined and changed. Why do they call them ASSAULY WEAPONS?
I agree police should have more of a presence, but I think they already have a cop at the school. Metal detectors, for a town and school like port washington, is too much.
The real issue is that we (everyone concerned) are missing a critical pice of the puzzle. Yes new gun legislation is needed but why on earth are we forgeting the individual who commits the crime. Everyone who could have done something needs to ask the big question. Was the shooter showing any signs that something was considerbaly wrong? The media disclosed the answer and he was said to be a problem child. His mom informed the babby sitter ten years earlier that her son needs to be carefully watched. I think te Mother needed physcological help. Your son has some sort of problems with behavior and you take him to the rifle range and then leave weapons readily available for him. Keep in mind the gun used to commit most of the murders was his mothers rifle. Maybe nuttiness ran in the family? Many of those commit similar crimes have some sort of mental issues. This was brought up by an expert on the topic durring a morning news interview.
Food for thought- does your son or daughter have the right to go to school and then return home in the same condition that they were earlier that day?
We just have to trust our good neighbors who own these to use their best judgement as to when it is appropriate to use them. And we'll just have to cross our fingers and hope that they or their loved ones with access to these weapons don't have a breakdown or lapse in judgment.
Lanza was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, a form of Autism, ALSO NOT LINKED to violent crimes. He was a loner, which fits the prototype, but being a loner doesn't constitute having "mental issues". What CAN be linked to this is a mother who collected and loved of guns and taught her son to do the same. He grew up in this environment, taken to shooting ranges and associating with people who also spend time with their guns. "Nuttiness" in the family is all over the map. As forensic experts piece this disjunct and evidence-less puzzle together, hopefully we'll get a clearer picture. But all this speculation about 'why' he did it? With all due respect, his was not a normal response - to anything. But look at the facts. Treating mental illness in this messy society is our obligation, yes. A ban on assault weapons is imminent. It's politically correct. I'm guessing even the NRA will support it. The facts are that the majority of murders are committed not with assult weapons, but with handguns. How do we reckon with this "real issue"? Is it not a critical piece of the puzzle?
"Adam Lanza was prohibited from purchasing a gun, because he was too young. Yet he managed to get his hands on guns — his mother’s — anyway. If we really want to stop young men like him from becoming mass murderers, and prevent the small amount of violence attributable to mental illness, we should invest our resources in better screening for, and treatment of, psychiatric illness in young people. All the focus on the small number of people with mental illness who are violent serves to make us feel safer by displacing and limiting the threat of violence to a small, well-defined group. But the sad and frightening truth is that the vast majority of homicides are carried out by outwardly normal people in the grip of all too ordinary human aggression to whom we provide nearly unfettered access to deadly force."
Are you aware of DASA? SAVE? It's required training, by law. And we get it. Why do you assume that the schools and educators don't do their jobs?Are educators supposed to cure the ills of society? Unless a parent or caregiver consents to 'identify' a child as being in need of ANY kind of help, we are unable to offer that child special services. Rather than offer their children help, their fears and assumption that the child will be labeled or stigmatized rather than helped, stops them. I write notes, emails, make calls home, talk to children, their teachers and administrators. From a teacher's perspective, when a parent doesn't respond, cooperate, support or reinforce, we are powerless. Do you think Lanza's mother would have responded to caring teachers? You know what the noble and loving teachers at Sandy Hook did for their children and understand that we're all special people. None of us would do anything different than they did. Spend some time with a teacher at school. Take off a day or two. If you'd like to come trail me, please do. Then tell me it's our fault.