Blue Mountain School Security: We Will Rock You!

Blue Mountain School District Superintendent David Helsel said they’d placed buckets filled with river stones in all classrooms. Their purpose? To allow students a chance to defend themselves in the event of a school shooting.

The Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania official said the idea to arm kids with rocks came to him when he pictured river stones as a comfortable size for the hands of children. The theory was to have the rock bucket on standby in case an armed shooter burst in the classroom while firing a semi-automatic AR-15 or similar rifle. Or even a pistol or two (far more people are killed with handguns than long guns).

Shooter Seung-Hui Cho killed 25 students and five faculty members at Virginia Tech. Cho fired 174 rounds from two handguns.

So let’s picture this for a moment. The alarm sounds (this is not the actual message) … “Emergency! There is an active shooter inside the building. No time to evacuate. Lock all doors and shelter in place. The police are on the way!”

Teachers and children hustle to a rear section of the classroom and use whatever they can find to use as barricades. The gunfire is intense. People are screaming. The shooter is yelling. Police sirens are wailing outside in the distance. Some of the kids are crying and sobbing. Others are using cell phones to call their parents. The teacher is trembling, but trying to be brave. More gunfire and the sound of glass breaking.

Front and center of the group is a plastic bucket filled with lemon-size, smooth and pretty river stones. Everyone grabs three or four. They’re ready to clobber the guy who’s coming down the hallway. Then …

The classroom door bursts open and the barrel of an AR-15 pokes through the opening. Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets begin to spew from the muzzle at a speed of somewhere around at 3,350 fps, and they’re peppering the walls, desks, ceiling, windows, barricades, teachers, children, and the rock bucket, as fast as the killer can pull the trigger.

An AR-15 style rifle is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle.

During the blast of intense gunfire, there is simply no way on this earth that children would have the time to grab a rock and throw it with enough accuracy to stop a crazed killer who’s intent on carrying out the act. Typically, these guys are not afraid of dying and may kill themselves at the end of the shooting. So someone tossing river stones at a gun-toting madman? No way.

This would be more realistic …

Fortunately, officials came to their senses and are now stepping up school security by hiring security armed with guns. I think the rocks still remain, but …

Kevlar Blankets

By the way, why not equip classrooms with large “blankets” made of Kevlar? Kids and teachers could hide behind them and, who knows, the shields could give them the chance to survive an attack.

#neverbringarocktoagunfight

#kevlarblankets

#kevlarbuckets


I’d love to hear your thoughts on adding a bucket of rocks in classrooms as a means of defense against an armed shooter. Also, who knows what the “AR” in AR-15 stands for? Hint. It’s not Assault Rifle.

*As always, please, no comments about politics, gun control, race, religion, or any of the other hot button whatever-no-one-can-discuss-rationally topics. Thanks!

 

7 replies
  1. susanoleksiw
    susanoleksiw says:

    I thought the scene of the man making the suggestion of a box of rocks at a council meeting was a satire when I first saw the clip on FB.

    I’d rather see courses on anger management, mediation, and addressing troubling behavior. If we’re serious about dealing with the issue, we should address what drives a few young people to such destructive behavior. (Or, is this outside the permitted range of discussion. Sorry if it is.)

  2. pat putnam
    pat putnam says:

    the rocks may reduce fear and give a sense of control to young children about an unlikely event.

    • Lee Lofland
      Lee Lofland says:

      Possible, Pat, but I’d really not like to see kids have a false sense of security, thinking a pile of rocks will save them. I honestly believe that’s what would happen, causing them to make themselves greater targets by standing to lob rocks at a guy who’s intent on killing as many people as he can. Running around the room in random patterns (harder to hit a moving target) would make more sense than standing tall and stationary.

    • Lee Lofland
      Lee Lofland says:

      Yes, and you’d be surprised how many people have argued with me over this, saying it stands for Assault Rifle.

  3. C. K. Crouch
    C. K. Crouch says:

    Hmm let’s see you’re going to throw a rock when there’s a gun pointed and shooting at you. I don’t think I would be successful with that rock.

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