"Old Dominion House Bill No. 60" By: Ryah Aziz

The Old Dominion House Bill No. 60 discusses how all public schools should incorporate a lock-down drill at least twice during the first 20 school days of each school year. This bill has the intentions to take the necessary precautions to protect children in school.  This bill is aiming to prepare teachers to protect their students by giving them adequate training and providing them with the life-saving knowledge that they may not have had. Training sessions are up to the schools' discretion, but at least one session is mandatory to be held in the first 20 days of the school year in accordance with the lock-down drills.

It is mentioned multiple times by the bill patron, Diana Hall from Kecoughtan High School says that this bill is “Not about arming teachers in schools.” This became a heated discussion among the patrons, some believing that this bill was about arming teachers. Hall shut down any deliberation on the topic by explaining and reiterating how the bill was about training teachers to be prepared to handle a situation where the presence of any potentially dangerous persons, in the possession of a firearm is on school grounds. Hall also explained some examples of protection teachers would be trained to perform. Those consisted of barricading doors with desks and shelves and having teachers be well informed on the procedure of taking care of a gunshot wound.

         Why this bill? “Nothing is being done currently,” said Hall. Due to an excessive amount of unfortunate events not only this year but throughout our history, many see additional safety precautions as essential in public school systems. More than one member brought up the past school shootings in their arguments, and this obviously shows how paramount the situation is. Some of the shootings mentioned were the Columbine Massacre of 1999, The Sandy Hook School Shooting of 2012, and lastly one of the more recent shootings, the Stoneman Douglas High School shooting which took place just this year. The Douglas shooting seemed to be the start of a new fight against school shootings and gun violence. A young girl, Sarah DeSouza  spoke to The New Yorker  on the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School saying “It inspired me to do something to contribute.”

         On this topic, the media has played a large role in providing voices for adolescents looking to speak out and represent what they believe in. There have been numerous marches in support of banning firearms and marches in support of the schools that have endured these shootings. The media is the platform that young people can use to share their opinions, and it has been used to do just that. The media has taken a role in the proposal of this bill because without being informed through media sources, the current events surrounding school safety would not be as relevant.

         When asked about how the classes will be administered, it was said that power points could be shown through the local police department, as well as lessons. The cost was not mentioned, though the bill patron did mention that the classes would most likely be provided from a voluntary stance. This seemed to win the majority of the patrons over, and the bill was successful in the first round of debate. Ana Sofia Uro-De Leon spoke about the issue passionately. “I don’t think there is anything wrong with preparing them for the worst. This isn’t about gun control. No harm comes from preparing” said Uro-De Leon when being asked about why she felt so strongly on the bill.