Just Enough or Too Extreme? School Safety Around the World

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Angels Line the Way to School in Newtown

On December 14, gunman Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 students and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. Since the unthinkable tragedy took place, protecting our students has become a top priority for parents, educators, and politicians.

President Obama asked Vice President Biden to lead a task force on school safety with the goal of being able to give strong recommendations by the State of the Union address in late January. In Connecticut, Governor Dannel P. Malloy also announced the formation of a task force. The expert panel will review current policy and make the necessary changes in the areas of school safety, mental health, and gun violence prevention.

Other ideas to strengthen school safety have been suggested, but they have not yet panned out.

They include the Save our Students Act, proposed by California Senator Barbara Boxer a few days after the Newtown shooting. The bill died on the floor and is now with the Senate Armed Services Committee. If it had passed, it would have increased funding for the Secure Our Schools program from $30 to $50 million dollars. The funds would have gone to additional tip lines and surveillance equipment. It would also have secured entries to schools and authorized the National Guard to respond to incidents of violence.

The NRA recommended putting police officers at each school, while Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne suggested arming principals, an idea inspired by the Pearl High shooting in 1997.

The United States is not the only country that has experienced violence inside its schools. On the same day as the Sandy Hook shooting, Min Yongjun wounded 23 children with a knife at Chenpeng village primary school. In 2010, China experienced five unrelated school attacks over the course of 50 days.

Because of attacks like these, China and many other countries around the world are paying closer attention to school safety. Click through the gallery to see the strategies different countries are taking to prevent violence in schools.

Photo: Carlo Allegri/Reuters

China: Anti-violence Drills

A teacher and her students try to shut a door against an intruder during an anti-violence exercise at a primary school in Jinan, Shandong province, just four days after the knife attack that wounded 23 at a school in China.

Photo: China Daily/Reuters

Germany: Forced to Check In

A private security guard checks the identities of students at the main entrance of the Otto-Hahn high school in Berlin's Neukoelln district on December 10, 2007. After several schools in the district were branded as Berlin's worst schools, local authorities brought in private unarmed security guards to provide security in 13 of the schools.

Photo: Fabrizio Bensch/Reuters

France: Police Stand Guard

French CRS police stand guard as they provide security outside the Beth Menahem Jewish School in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, on March 19, 2012. In Toulouse a gunman on a motorbike shot dead at least four people, including three children, outside Ozar Hatorah Jewish School that same morning.

Photo: Emmanuel Foudrot/Reuters

Philippines: Arresting Mock Terrorists

A member of a rescue unit of the Philippine army gestures as he arrests a mock terrorist during a mass casualty incident drill in a university in Quezon City, metro Manila, on December 19, 2012. The drill aims to train and prepare different rescue units to react to situations similar to the Newtown shooting.

Photo: Romeo Ranoco/Reuters

Russia: Armed Guards

A schoolboy and his mother pass by an armed security guard as they arrive for the first lesson at No. 1 school in Beslan, Russia, on September 5, 2005. A year earlier, 32 Chechen militants held over 1,000 people hostage, including 777 children, for three days before the Russian army intervened. Three hundred and thirty-two people died in the tragedy.

Photo: Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters

Colombia: Gunfire Drills

Students participate in precautionary evacuation drills, in the event they are ever caught in gun crossfire, at a school in Toribio, Cauca, on September 25, 2012. Toribio lies in the western Cauca department of Colombia, an area with a high concentration of Marxist rebels, who have long fought for control.

Photo: Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters

China: Self-Defense Can't Hurt

Paramilitary policemen demonstrate self-defense skills to students at a school in Nanjing, Jiangsu. China's police forces nationwide were ordered to step up security of kindergartens and schools after a spate of violent attacks against school children.

Photo: Stringer/Reuters

America: Backpack Armor

Since the Newtown shooting, the sales for armored backpacks designed to shield kids from bullets have increased, the Associated Press reports.

On the left, the photo of Amendment II's backpack with ballistic material shows the impact points of the bullets. On the right, Amanda Curran demonstrates how to use the Bullet Blocker backpack, a similar product the manufacturer claims can stop 99.9 percent of bullets from all handguns and costs between $250-$600.

Photos: Jim Urquhart and Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters

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Americans disagree on gun control, but we're all in agreement on gun violence: it's unacceptable and needs to stop. Take this pledge and show that, left or right, we can all stand together against senseless violence.

Whether it's inner-city gang violence, or a school shooting, horrific and violent incidents are preventable through community support and mental health intervention. Indeed, studies show that youth guidance programs can significantly reduce violence in high-crime communities.

As for mass shootings, there will be no solution — involving gun control or mental health improvements — until local, state and federal governments decide to initiate a serious conversation.

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I pledge to stand against gun violence with my community and others around the United States by doing the following:

In support of victims of the Newtown, CT, shooting on December 14, 2012, donate to Newtown Youth and Family Services, which will provide mental health counseling for members of the community.
Help the families of those coping with loss related to gun violence. The Brady Campaign provides support for victims and their families.
Take Action with States United to Prevent Gun Violence. They have resources to get involved in your own community and on the national level.
Emphasize the need for strong mental health services in your community. Talk to people who seem depressed or extraordinarily stressed. The National Alliance on Mental Illness features programs and services for individuals who may be at-risk.
Talk to your kids. If they ask questions about a mass shooting, answer them in the best way possible, but help them understand that recovery will happen.
Visit the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence to learn about their advocacy work and strategic engagement.

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Andrew Freeman is a California native with a degree in history from UCLA. He’s covered a wide range of topics for TakePart, but is particularly interested in politics and policy. Email Andrew |@natureofdabeast | TakePart.com