Are devices like metal detectors a good idea to ensure school safety?
By John Woodall Answer: Safety is the absolute precondition for learning. In fact, research shows that we lose the ability to acquire new information in a condition of fear. If a child feels unsafe, she is not going to be able to learn as well. Beyond this fact, it is simply morally and culturally unacceptable to put our children in a position of being unsafe, especially when under the care of a school. What do we need to feel safe? First, we need to be physically protected. Yet even in the most dangerous situation, people can feel safe if they feel emotionally supported and a part of the community around them. The most important factor in establishing safety for the school, then, is to see the issue in the larger context of creating a unified and supportive environment within which all members of the school community feel connected. In the model we use in the Unity Project, we invest a great deal of time creating a “Unity Council,” in which teachers, administrators, parents, community
