A strange, yet really scary situation happened yesterday at a preschool in France. A 17 year old man entered the preschool in the morning equipped with a taser and took over 20 children hostage. According to one of the teachers, he did not threaten the kids, he just came in and said "this is a hostage-taking. I want the windows closed and the curtains drawn." The police soon arrived and surrounded the building. They then negotiated with the man, and the children and teachers were freed. The man, who was later arrested, was reported to suffer from depression and psychological problems. The teachers and police said that he was more looking to kill himself rather than the kids.
Not only do I feel bad for the kids and teachers at that school, but also for the 17 year old. He must be struggling through life and can't possibly be happy if he wants his life to end. It's scary to think that something like this could happen anywhere, even at Aragon. I think all school's should be prepared for situations like this, and make sure everyone gets out safely. How can they prepare? Luckily, at this school everyone was safely rescued, but that will not always be the case.
6 comments:
I'm actually glad this situation turned out the way it did. No one was hurt and everyone left unscathed. Hopefully this situation will serve as a strong reminder of what could have happened if the kid really wanted to get some attention.
I'm with Aaron on this one. All those involved were fortunate the situation turned out the way it did. I can't imagine what it would have been like for the parents of those pre-schoolers to learn that they were taken hostage! I mean they're only like 4- and 5-year olds. And then the 17-year old, who knows what he could have done! For all we know, he could've been a kid at Aragon. It's really sad that he tried to resort to this to try and solve his problems. A permanent solution to a temporary problem.
There definitely should be stricter policies on who is allowed on campus. Although this could be difficult because most campuses are open and can allow people to come in and out freely. Thankfully no one was hurt and hopefully the 17 year old can get some help so as to prevent this from occurring again.
this is such an almost-terrible trgedy. im so glad the kids and teachers were not harmed, but it raises a question..how do we prevent this from happening? especially with the string of school shootings the US has faced in the last few years...
I also think schools definitely need to enforce stricter policies regarding safety against intruders. However, I don't necessarily know how we're supposed to do that, considering most schools are open campus, and even though we can close and lock the doors, there are still a variety of weapons that can get through, right? I remember sophomore year in Greer's class she told us that our classroom door had what was called a "Columbine" lock on it, and it pretty much gave our class chills, because I'm sure even though these locks are meant to protect the intruder from opening the door, if he really wanted to, he could find some other means of getting in without having to test the door handle.
I just think it's terrible that people would target schools and hold students hostage in the first place. This definitely serves as a wake up call to our safety policies, and hopefully in the near future there will be ways in which school safety could be better enforced.
I think the schools should have better safety precautions so an intruder cannot randomly come into a children's class room. Even locking the door to the school once it is in session would be a step in the right direction. This could have been a thousand times worse given that the boy was in a different psychological state at the time.
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