I’m getting this question often because a lot of parents and others are wanting their schools to install metal detectors. I know there is a lot to consider and I hope this helps you decide!

If you want to make your school safer you must have multiple safety layers and filters. A safety layer is something that an offender must pass through or overcome and a filter screens for unwanted or dangerous behaviors. The more layers and filters you have the safer your school. The fewer you have the more vulnerable you are.

Having said that…there is a tradeoff.

Metal detectors will require that you add or give up certain things.

1. Extra time.
   Metal detectors slow down student entry. It takes time to get through the machines so it will add time to your morning arrival. It could be up to 30 minutes or longer depending on your level of screening, searching, number of machines, and number of students. It takes time to drop backpacks, take off belts, and put loose items in bins…if you want this level of screening. You can always reduce it but it will lower effectiveness.


2. Trained and ready.
   The people operating the machines must be trained. It’s not difficult to do but it will require training and several designated personnel to run it each morning.


3. Wands and searches.
   These personnel must have wands and be proficient in searching and screening students. Inevitably students will set off the machines. When that happens you’ll have to pull the student aside and be prepared to wand as well as search their person and bags. Again, it’s not difficult but it will require more time, training, and the right personnel. If your teachers and staff members do not feel comfortable with this responsibility you will have to outsource it.


4. Prepare for violence.
   The personnel must be prepared and ready for violence. Should a student have a gun, knife, or something else that trips the metal detector—you will have to physically secure the weapon.
   
   The goal is to stop these things from coming in but what do you do when it happens? You’ll be face-to-face with a potential threat so the staff member must be ready and able to handle it. Therefore, you can’t just assign anyone to do it. This is one of the reasons why so many schools that have detectors hire outside security personnel to run the machines. This alleviates the problems of training, wands and searches, and being ready and able to confront violence. The tradeoff of course is the cost to hire these folks.


5. Change in culture.
   Metal detectors change your culture and…not for the better. I’ve never seen a school’s culture improve with metal detectors. Perhaps safety, but not culture. In my experience, I think it deadens the spirit of the students—it’s depressing, starts the day off on a bad and unhappy note, sends a message of mistrust (metal detectors implicitly imply that at least some of the students are not trustworthy), and hinders the ability to form relationships. Metal detectors slow down morning arrival so there’s not much of an opportunity to greet and talk to the students since the overriding priority is not to welcome but to get hundreds of people quickly scanned. It is simply not conducive to warm interactions.
   

If metal detectors were foolproof it would be easy to say yes to them but people can get around them. Like every other mechanical device they are helpful but not perfect.

I was in one school where a student threw a gun up to a waiting friend hanging out of a second story window to get around the metal detectors. In another school a student with a gun was let in by another student who opened an exterior door for him so he could avoid being screened. In one school attack, a student with a gun ran through the metal detector shooting the security guard and murdering him before running into the building and murdering 6 more people.

Last point—if you have severe safety issues, multiple guns found in the building, or repeated acts of extreme violence then you may need metal detectors. However, if this isn’t your school then most likely you don’t need them. Instead, put your effort into people focused violence prevention techniques that multiply your safety layers and filters through positive engagements and interactions with students. There’s no cost to it, no trade off, teachers love it, and you get a safer, happier, and more successful school.

The greatest safety asset you have is your people—focus on them!

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If you think people are the prize for making your school safer then you’ll love Safe & Loved. We have a 2-day course, soon to be released leader course, as well as a 3-8 hour professional development for teachers and staff members.

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