Attending college means becoming independent. College is the door for young adults, who have promising futures ahead of them. College campus’ need to crack down on their security system measures. Students should be able to feel safe, as well as be secure.
Unfortunately, something is seriously wrong with the campus security systems. They are not protecting school environments, which results in devastating consequences. There have been a number of incidents where students have not been able to graduate college because they were killed attending school.
The Virginia Tech. Massacre left 33 people dead and over two dozen others wounded April 16, 2007. Another shooting occurred at the Louisiana Technical College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where two students were killed February 8, 2008. And even more recently on this year's Valentine's Day, six Northern Illinois University students were shot and killed.
Over the years, security measures such as swipe cards for entering buildings, emergency telephone and communication systems and evacuation procedures have been being enforced. But are these implements really helping? It does not seem like they are, since those killers were still able to enter the school buildings, armed with their guns.
Security systems in schools need to be capable of protecting people. As defined in the American Heritage Dictionary, security is “something that gives or assures safety.” However, does that denotation fit in with the events that have been occurring on college campuses?
In the Virginia Tech. Incident, the school's security was awfully poor. According to police reports, “It took more than two hours to notify the 26,000-student campus of the first shootings.” Why were the other buildings not locked down when the first shooting took place? If the security systems had been doing its job, the second shooting, which resulted in over 60 people injured or killed, could have been avoided.
If colleges should use that better time to strengthen their security and to protect their students. Innocent people should not have to experience horror due to the carelessness or weakness of a force that should be strong.
