The tragedy at Virginia Tech, like all such occurrences, brings the issue of school safety to the forefront of national debate. All schools need to have plans in place for this type of disaster and I believe most do. Since Columbine especially, schools and communities have prepared for the worst, the unthinkable. In our school, we have lockdown mode. When we get the word, basically we shut and lock the doors. What else can you do? If it really happens, I think we can only hope survival mode kicks in and we do whatever the situation calls for to save our lives and the lives of those around us.

Lockdown in a high school is fairly easy. A P.A. system connects every room in the building. There are phones in every room and every teacher has access to email in his or her room. I cannot imagine how long it might take to reach everyone on a college campus. The buildings are scattered over a large area and, from my own experience, there are not even phones in the rooms for communication purposes.

Another issue arises after a major school tragedy. Copy-cats. Not necessarily someone trying the exact same thing, but threats in general occur in quick succession after these tragedies. Already in the region where I work, two districts shut down for a day each because of threats. One threat specifically mentioned the Virginia Tech tragedy.

It actually surprises me that my school has not received any threats this week. We have already experienced about four this year citing bombs in the building. Four is a pretty typical number for my school and we are not that unusual. This creates a real problem. Mostly, it makes for a situation in which the boy cried wolf. They never amount to anything. Usually it's a student who wanted to postpone a test or simply go home early on a sunny, warm day. Fortunately, our administration takes a hard line on these students. They press criminal charges. Still, the seriousness of the offense and consequences have not stemmed the frequency of threats.

In the event of a bomb threat at my school, we go into lockdown mode so no students can leave any classes until the principal or police clear the building. But, what if just one time, there really is a bomb in the school? It only takes one time for a tragedy to occur.

Mary Ellen Freund