Metal Detectors in Schools

In the recent past, there have been horrified incidents wherein students or school infiltrators or intruders have created havoc by unnecessarily killing other students or teachers with the weapons they carried. Due to these incidents, there has been a lot of fear among children and their parents about the security and well-being of their children in schools. After these incidents, many people had raised questions about the security measures and had demanded the use of metal detectors in schools to protect any kind of violence and killings. Let us know more about these metal detectors in schools in the succeeding paragraphs.

Metal Detectors in Schools: Pros And Cons

The metal detectors in schools are used to reduce any possible risk of violence by right and prompt signals such as beeps and alarms when the detectors find person carrying destructive weapons like knives, guns, bomb etc. According to a study, the number of students and outsiders bringing guns and knives to school has gone down considerably due to the metal detectors in schools. Many believe that criminals will not dare enter the school premises with weapons after the introduction of the metal detectors in schools. This system has helped the police to confiscate the weapons, which in some cases, have been possessed without proper license or have been stolen from some other persons belongings.

However, there are some cons to the setting up of metal detectors in schools. A thorough check up before entering the school premises may result in the students reaching their classes late and missing their portion in the classes. Some people do complain that searching of personal belongings using metal detectors is a direct invasion of privacy and should be avoided.

Metal Detectors in Schools: Do They Guarantee 100% Safety?

Many people ask questions like how safe are metal detectors in school in the metal detectors in schools debate. Many of them believe that metal detectors alone cannot protect students in schools as violence can also happen on school grounds or while boarding school buses. It would be practically difficult or even impossible to check each student. Another question which needs to be answered is-how many security personnel will be required to maintain these metal detectors in schools and is it possible to maintain them throughout the day? We should also think about the kind of training which should be given to the security men to deal with emergencies. Detection of smartly concealed weapons is another challenge for the school security personnel maintaining the metal detectors in schools. There may also arise the need to have this security system at other entrances to the school apart from the main gate. It would be necessary to know whether each and every school employee and teacher would be checked before coming in and whether these metal detectors will be operating the day for seven days a week.

Metal Detectors in Schools: Cost

Having metal detectors in schools can increase the budget of the school to a great extent. The cost of a single metal detector can be around USD 4000 and the schools may have to buy several metal detectors for complete security. Many schools have finalized plans and secured funds for buying the metal detectors in schools.

Though metal detectors in schools are costly, it would be advisable to use them for student and staff safety. It is possible to prevent any sort of violence in schools and provide peaceful and safe environment for the students by collective efforts and co-operation of all involved people.