School shootings are not like most other events that can cause post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). When a youngster is inside of their school, they should experience an overwhelming sense of safety. The worries and concerns of outside life are cast behind as they focus on learning. It is not surprising at all that younger pupils, and elementary students in particular, have a tendency to have more harsher emotions when they survive something like this.
When people like Tina Quintanilla-Taylor and her daughter Mehle, who will be attending the new school, drive past it, the very last thing this child should really be worrying about is how safe it is from threats. However, this youngster may be thinking about this very thing when they do so. Despite this, that was precisely the direction that her young mind went. Even if the old building is now permanently shuttered, this does not let her relax about the situation. Mehle considers the fence to be thin and easily scaled, despite the fact that the new structure appears to be spotless and warmly inviting. "I don't feel safe," she informed her mother.
Students in Uvalde have the opportunity to attend school at a remote location, an opportunity that is being taken advantage of by a significant number of parents. Others are still thinking about attending private schools. Education is provided all the way from kindergarten all the way up to sixth grade at Sacred Heart Catholic Church. They started classes on August 15 this year, and they already had twice as many pupils as they did at the same time last year.
The attendance of parents at school board meetings has been consistently high, and they have been demanding additional answers and responsibility from public and school officials. They are curious as to why the police did such a poor job protecting their children. I don't understand why they stopped parents from attempting to save their children. What steps are they going to take to prevent anything like this from happening again? It would appear that tiny Mehle is not prepared to acknowledge that the recent improvements they've made have been successful.
In order to look into the assault, a parliamentary committee has been put together. During the course of their inquiry, investigators discovered significant flaws in the preparedness of the school to deal with a mass shooting. The school did a terrible job of protecting its pupils, as both the interior and exterior doors were left unlocked, contrary to the policy of the institution, and there was only a 5-foot fence around the property, which the shooter was able to easily climb over.
The committee also took note of the obvious lapses in judgment made by the police in terms of their rules and decision-making processes when the stakes were the highest. It was a wasteful plan on their part to allow him to remain in the classroom for more than an hour before they made any move to interfere. According to the findings of the probe conducted by the Texas Department of Public Safety, Pete Arredondo, the head of the police force serving the school district, was a dismal performer in his position. He failed to follow conventional procedures taught to law enforcement officers, which would have easily put an end to the confrontation sooner and probably saved the lives of a number of people.
Arredondo is due to appear in court on the 24th of August; hence, it is highly possible that he will be fired from his position. Parents and people of the community are frustrated that it took so long to fire him and choose his replacement, despite the fact that he has been on leave without pay since July. It is more likely to be someone from an external organization who has more experience working with issues like this.
The school system decided to push back the beginning of the school year to September 6 in order to give pupils more time to adjust to the new safety measures that have been implemented. In addition to installing a new fence with a height of 8 feet, they have also installed security cameras, upgraded door locks, and increased the number of police officers who are stationed on the premises. Additionally, Governor Gregg Abbott has delegated thirty additional state troopers to the security detail.
Hal Harris, the Superintendent of Schools, recently sent out a video message in which he detailed the additional safety precautions that have been implemented for the students. "We are making strides toward our goal. These are components that are going to be placed across the entire school district, not just on one site or two schools at a time.
In the meantime, the parents are complaining that the progress has been moving at an extremely snail's pace, and they are concerned that it won't be finished in time for the first day of school. If it's not, then who can blame them for wanting to keep their children inside?
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on American Retirement Insider.
