Where are the designers, architects, and engineers in the debate on hardening school security through design? Why are we not at the forefront of this issue? It’s common sense that doors to classrooms should be bullet proof. It’s common sense that safety through environmental design is a good idea. Forget about your politics for a second. Where is the debate and leadership in this profession?
Miles Jaffe
Feb 27, 18 10:39 pm
@ jla-x
"because that's what terrorists do"
Don't confuse school shootings with terrorism. There are no jihadists shouting Allahu Akbar, just some really screwed up home grown kids who are the product of an insanely sick society.
But WHY do terrorists do what they do? It's not because they 'hate our freedom', it's because we've been meddling in their affairs for almost a century without regard for their lives and well-being. How do you fight a far more powerful force? With asymmetric warfare, which is exactly what terrorism is.
Think about this: there is not much that is more terrifying than a slowly orbiting AC-130 gunship spraying indiscriminate death with infrared targeting or stealthy drone missile strikes that come out of nowhere. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
Maybe - just maybe - getting the fuck out of places we have absolutely no business being (Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc.), and discontinuing support for state terrorist regimes (Israel) would have a positive effect on global terrorism. Meanwhile your personal arsenal isn't going to protect you from a 9/11 or Stade de France.
In the same way terrorism could be addressed by changing our global behavior, school shootings could be addressed by changing our country's social behavior. Time and effort are required. Monetizing the problem with hardened schools, more guns, more cops, etc. does nothing to address the problem - all it does is profit from it.
x-jla
Feb 27, 18 11:01 pm
Well said, I agree.
x-jla
Feb 27, 18 11:13 pm
...Mostly...changing our behavior is of corse important, but until we manage to do so, survival is a priority
.
Miles Jaffe
Feb 28, 18 9:49 am
Fear is a great motivator. Always of the wrong things.
Great article... but then again, won't change the minds of those already ingrained in gun culture.
Miles Jaffe
Mar 2, 18 8:36 pm
"ingrained in the culture of fear
and stupidity"
There, fixed it for you.
hellion
Mar 6, 18 9:43 pm
^ Agree with Miles. Take a look at this school in Japan, or in schools in other parts of the world. It is not the design of the school nor the profession that's the problem, it is the very act and culture of normalizing gun ownership or having access to guns that is the problem. Another problem is the social values and environment Americans are somehow brought up in or exposed to. Those are the things that have to change or to be discussed.
Where are the designers, architects, and engineers in the debate on hardening school security through design? Why are we not at the forefront of this issue? It’s common sense that doors to classrooms should be bullet proof. It’s common sense that safety through environmental design is a good idea. Forget about your politics for a second. Where is the debate and leadership in this profession?
@ jla-x
"because that's what terrorists do"
Don't confuse school shootings with terrorism. There are no jihadists shouting Allahu Akbar, just some really screwed up home grown kids who are the product of an insanely sick society.
But WHY do terrorists do what they do? It's not because they 'hate our freedom', it's because we've been meddling in their affairs for almost a century without regard for their lives and well-being. How do you fight a far more powerful force? With asymmetric warfare, which is exactly what terrorism is.
Think about this: there is not much that is more terrifying than a slowly orbiting AC-130 gunship spraying indiscriminate death with infrared targeting or stealthy drone missile strikes that come out of nowhere. One man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter.
Maybe - just maybe - getting the fuck out of places we have absolutely no business being (Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc.), and discontinuing support for state terrorist regimes (Israel) would have a positive effect on global terrorism. Meanwhile your personal arsenal isn't going to protect you from a 9/11 or Stade de France.
In the same way terrorism could be addressed by changing our global behavior, school shootings could be addressed by changing our country's social behavior. Time and effort are required. Monetizing the problem with hardened schools, more guns, more cops, etc. does nothing to address the problem - all it does is profit from it.
Well said, I agree.
...Mostly...changing our behavior is of corse important, but until we manage to do so, survival is a priority
.
Fear is a great motivator. Always of the wrong things.
https://www.nytimes.com/intera...
Great article... but then again, won't change the minds of those already ingrained in gun culture.
"ingrained in the culture of fear and stupidity"
There, fixed it for you.
^ Agree with Miles. Take a look at this school in Japan, or in schools in other parts of the world. It is not the design of the school nor the profession that's the problem, it is the very act and culture of normalizing gun ownership or having access to guns that is the problem. Another problem is the social values and environment Americans are somehow brought up in or exposed to. Those are the things that have to change or to be discussed.