COLUMBIA, S.C. — It was a nerve wracking first week for parents after a loaded gun was found at a local high school.
"Learning cannot take place in an environment where students, staff and faculty do not feel safe,” Dr. Kim D. Moore said.
Dr. Moore, the superintendent for the Richland School District Two, says metal detectors in schools have an essential role when it comes to the safety of students.
A 14-year-old student was arrested Monday after deputies said the teen had a loaded gun in their book bag at Westwood High School.
“It was because of our safety screening devices that we were able to locate this weapon. It was detected during the screening process, which is what the process is designed for and then every step in the procedures that people have been trained on was executed perfectly, meaning that the device was identified," Moore said. "Then the student was taken to another location, with their backpack searched by the SRO in the building, and turned over to law enforcement, and that is the process that we use to ensure that we are creating that safe and caring environment for everyone.”
According to Moore, every student goes through a safety screening when they enter school. They are instructed to empty out devices from their backpacks or purses. If something sets off the metal detectors, that student is searched.
District officials say every school in the district has a student resource officer, but metal detectors are unique to high schools except for the occasional pop ups in middle schools.
“Research has shown us across the nation that high schools tend to be the areas where you see more challenges when it comes to safety, and so to ensure that we have that safe learning environment for our students as well as our staff and our faculty, we felt that high schools would be the place to have our safety screenings in place every day that students are in the building,” Moore said.
Be Smart, a national organization that advocates for secure gun storage, says parents and community members can play a huge role in keeping our communities safe.
“Oftentimes children find guns in their own home. What we say is hiding a gun is not securing a gun,” Merie Mirosavich, co-lead of Be Smart Midlands said.
Mirosavich recommends the following if you have a gun at home.
“We recommend that people use gun locks or gun safes so that a child can’t access a gun. W e know that kids are curious, and we know that if they find a gun, oftentimes, they will want to play with that gun and explore what that gun will do,” she said.
Be Smart has partnered with many school districts in the area, including Richland Two and local law enforcement to inform parents and community members on how to better secure their guns.
Another national organization, Be Strong Families, has partnered with City of Columbia Office of Violent Crime Prevention to host Gun Safety Parent Cafes, scheduled for 6-8:30 p.m. Thursday, August 15 and August 22, at Lorick Park. The adults-only events are meant to offer a space for meaningful conversations to help parents, caregivers and family members help keep children safe.
“It really is on all of us to secure our firearms, because we don't want someone to be able to access it from their own home, but we also don't want to be a community member that leaves our gun in our vehicle and the child is accessing it there,” Mirosavich said.
Be Smart tells News19 gun owners can get gun locks for free at the Richland County Sheriff's Department.