October is Ohio School Safety Month

Our state designated October as “Ohio School Safety Month”. Our schools need some attention to this topic. As of last month, the US has seen 58 school shootings so far this year. Of these, 14 were on college campuses and 44 were on the grounds of K-12 schools. These incidents have left nearly 100 victims dead or injured.

According to the CDC, firearms are the leading cause of death in children. Guns kill more people under the age of 19 than car accidents, cancer, congenital anomalies, suffocation, poisoning, or drowning. Firearms account for almost 20% of US deaths in this age group, which is ten times more than in other comparable countries. Internationally, America is responsible for 97% of shooting deaths of children and teens worldwide.

Closer to home, it was recently reported that four Cleveland Heights/University Heights High School students were arrested for bringing loaded guns to school. Three students ranging from 15-18 years of age were caught with loaded guns on them or in their backpacks. A fourth student was taken into custody after an attempted robbery at gunpoint in the restroom. In response, the school began a pilot program using metal detectors. Similarly, after discovering a loaded weapon at the high school and at a football game, the Shaker Heights school district has installed metal detectors as well. Given heightened concerns across the region, Parma city schools addressed the possibility of investing in metal detectors for their schools at a town hall meeting open to the public last month. 

The US Department of Education published a paper titled “Are Metal Detectors Making Schools Safer?” in 2019, which argued that the cost-benefit may not be in favor in installing these devices. Each metal detector costs anywhere from $4,000-$30,000 and requires human personnel to police its use. This can significantly impact a school’s budget. The authors further maintained that the devices are not foolproof, concluding “there is a lack of accurate statistics to support [the claim that]… metal detectors are successful at screening out weapons at schools.”

Access to firearms increases the risk of homicide, suicide, and unintentional injury for members of a household and community. Despite this risk, fewer than one-half of firearm owners safely store guns, and 20% of homes with children have unsafely-secured firearms, according to a 2019 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

It is incumbent upon us as parents, educators, caregivers, and trusted adults in the community to shine a spotlight on this increasingly worrisome trend and help the next generation make safe choices for themselves and those around them. Educating our children and students about firearm dangers and reiterating the importance of every life can go a long way toward shifting these statistics, avoiding unnecessary trauma, and saving lives.

Written by Dr. Carly Wilbur, UH Pediatrician and PSI Medical Director.