Blog 8

May 01, 2019. My classmate Ruben posted “Is Texas Senate Bill 11 enough to keep school.” His main point is that Texas Senate Bill 11 is not enough to keep school safe. Texas Senate Bill 11 mainly included that students and teachers 21 and older with a license to conceal carry can do so on a college campus. In addition, it added to the bill by trying to strengthen mental health initiatives in school and equip teachers and substitute teachers with adequate communication devices for when emergencies happen and have a safety committee meeting once per semester. However, he points out that even though Texas passed these amendments, there are a lot of problems in school. In 2017, there were 17,284 murders in the US. In 2018, there were 114 deaths in school shootings. He says that statistically, this is nothing compared to the number of total deaths in the US. Many people will use this and brush off that school problems are a problem. Something people on both sides of the political spectrum is that schools need more security.

I agree with his opinion that Texas Senate Bill 11 is not enough to keep school safe, but it is going to be a good step for the school.  Senate Bill 11 attempts proposals include beefing up mental health resources in schools by employing mental health professionals in Texas school districts; expanding emergency response training for district employees, including substitute teachers; and establishing threat assessment teams which would help identify potentially dangerous students and determine the best way to intervene before they become violent, to serve in Texas schools. Even though adopt those amendments, a large number of accidents occurred in school. However, we can’t blame these amendments. I think we know that we cannot prevent every tragedy, and there is no one size fits all solution for strengthening school security, but SB 11 provides the framework to empower school districts to do what’s best for them and their students.