Fulton student: Make school safety priority
School districts around the country reacted differently this week to threats of terrorist violence. Los Angeles closed down all of its 900 schools on Tuesday; New York schools treated the threat as a hoax and stayed open.
A north Fulton high school student discusses the impact of such threats on student peace of mind. He has lived through it at his own high school. A threat at his school in April — timed to the 16th anniversary of the Columbine High School attack — led many of his classmates to stay home.
“The following day—a Friday—I attended school, but around half of the students in my classes did not show. By the end of the day, close to two-thirds of my classmates were gone. Over the weekend, we heard new rumors that the countdown was set to end on Monday, the anniversary of the 1999 Columbine school shooting. Although most students chose to return to school that day, many of us felt very uneasy and highly alert,” writes junior Andrew Liang.
To read more, go to AJC Get Schooled.
About the Author
Maureen Downey has written editorials and opinion pieces about local, state and federal education policy since the 1990s.
