Whitman / Chances of Violence

[Anonymous]

My daughter had been considering two private schools but now has decided to attend our local public, which is Whitman. The only problem is that she has anxiety attacks about school shootings. We are definitely seeking the help of a therapist, but her fears are not illogical or irrational. 2022 had the most number of school shootings ever. So two questions:

1. What are the chances of a school shooting? Statistics help.
2. What measures are in place at MCPS schools to prevent shootings?

I saw the thread already re safety and it was just a bunch of people arguing and no answer, so I’m looking for an eels answer. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

1.7564%

[Anonymous]

Statistics help how?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, OP. It breaks my heart that our kids have to worry about this. Sadly, as we saw with last week’s shooting at a small school in Nashville, it can truly happen anywhere.

I’m a Whitman parent and I can tell you that Whitman has multiple security guards who are engaged and vigilant. I can also tell you that doors are locked and you need to be buzzed in to get into the building.

Assuming your daughter has not been in public before, she should take a tour before making her decision to make sure she is comfortable in general with the bigger size and crowded hallways between classes. My kids are fine and used to this, but I could see it being overwhelming for someone with some anxiety.

Best of luck to your daughter.

[Anonymous]

I had one kid at Walter Johnson HS, and will have another at BCC high school. Odds are very low, statistically, OP. You should be focused on insisting on that fact. It's the only thing that really protects her.

To be entirely frank, as the recent private school shooting showed, a determined killer and shoot through a door lock even if doesn't have glass (they entered the glass front doors through the shattered glass), and even if it's locked.

Please support strict gun control. It's the one thing that other wealthy nations have implemented that we have not, and that's why there are very few school shootings in other developed countries.

[Anonymous]

Her fears are irrational and illogical. What are you doing to your kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Her fears are irrational and illogical. What are you doing to your kid?

This is the USA. You are in wrong forum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Her fears are irrational and illogical. What are you doing to your kid?

Lots of kids have these fears, for good reasons. School shootings happen, what, every week?

But OP asking for statistics doesn't make a lot of sense. This isn't a card game.

And OP using the word prevent makes no sense. There are measures that could make school shootings less likely. But there is no prevention.

[Anonymous]

She needs a therapist if this is actually clinically impacting her. You don’t help anxiety by presenting facts and statistics about feared outcomes like this.

[Anonymous]

My 15 yr DD also has anxiety, like she can't even stay home alone for 5 hours during the day by herself. I don't think it's helped that I was always home (WFH) throughout her life.

But, even my DD who goes to a larger non W school than WW can handle the school and the two lockdowns that they've had. She was scared, yes, but she powered through it. And I'm very proud of her for that.

Have her talk to her therapist about her anxiety; you should also talk to her about how the odds of her getting into a car accident is higher than being shot in school. It does happen, of course, and it's a scary thought, but statistically, she has more of a chance of dying from a car accident than being shot in school. Yet, I'm sure she still gets into a car, and will also drive herself one day.

Put things in perspective for her.

Feeding into these anxieties won't help her in the long run. You need to help her find ways to cope and put things into perspective so she is not so scared all the time.

It is a big scary world out there. Your job as a parent is to help her navigate it, not cater to that anxiety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her fears are irrational and illogical. What are you doing to your kid?

Lots of kids have these fears, for good reasons. School shootings happen, what, every week?

But OP asking for statistics doesn't make a lot of sense. This isn't a card game.

And OP using the word prevent makes no sense. There are measures that could make school shootings less likely. But there is no prevention.

Statistics is what helps make decisions in life, PP. Maybe you don't realize it, but that's why you wear your seatbelt, why you tell your kids not to smoke (cardiac disease and lung cancer), why you tell them to eat healthy (inflammation, diabetes, cardiac issues), etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Her fears are irrational and illogical. What are you doing to your kid?

Lots of kids have these fears, for good reasons. School shootings happen, what, every week?

But OP asking for statistics doesn't make a lot of sense. This isn't a card game.

And OP using the word prevent makes no sense. There are measures that could make school shootings less likely. But there is no prevention.

Statistics is what helps make decisions in life, PP. Maybe you don't realize it, but that's why you wear your seatbelt, why you tell your kids not to smoke (cardiac disease and lung cancer), why you tell them to eat healthy (inflammation, diabetes, cardiac issues), etc.

All of your examples are things individuals can control.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 15 yr DD also has anxiety, like she can't even stay home alone for 5 hours during the day by herself. I don't think it's helped that I was always home (WFH) throughout her life.

But, even my DD who goes to a larger non W school than WW can handle the school and the two lockdowns that they've had. She was scared, yes, but she powered through it. And I'm very proud of her for that.

Have her talk to her therapist about her anxiety; you should also talk to her about how the odds of her getting into a car accident is higher than being shot in school. It does happen, of course, and it's a scary thought, but statistically, she has more of a chance of dying from a car accident than being shot in school. Yet, I'm sure she still gets into a car, and will also drive herself one day.

Put things in perspective for her.

Feeding into these anxieties won't help her in the long run. You need to help her find ways to cope and put things into perspective so she is not so scared all the time.

It is a big scary world out there. Your job as a parent is to help her navigate it, not cater to that anxiety.

I don’t think you blaming your WFH situation is right. Each kid is different and this can develop all on its own. I always grew up with someone in the house and never had an issue with being alone for a few hours. In fact, completely relished in it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 15 yr DD also has anxiety, like she can't even stay home alone for 5 hours during the day by herself. I don't think it's helped that I was always home (WFH) throughout her life.

But, even my DD who goes to a larger non W school than WW can handle the school and the two lockdowns that they've had. She was scared, yes, but she powered through it. And I'm very proud of her for that.

Have her talk to her therapist about her anxiety; you should also talk to her about how the odds of her getting into a car accident is higher than being shot in school. It does happen, of course, and it's a scary thought, but statistically, she has more of a chance of dying from a car accident than being shot in school. Yet, I'm sure she still gets into a car, and will also drive herself one day.

Put things in perspective for her.

Feeding into these anxieties won't help her in the long run. You need to help her find ways to cope and put things into perspective so she is not so scared all the time.

It is a big scary world out there. Your job as a parent is to help her navigate it, not cater to that anxiety.

I don’t think you blaming your WFH situation is right. Each kid is different and this can develop all on its own. I always grew up with someone in the house and never had an issue with being alone for a few hours. In fact, completely relished in it.

Because you don't have high anxiety. I'm not saying DD has high anxiety because I wfh. I also relished being home alone when I was a tween/teen.

But, DD's inability to be home alone even now for 5 five hours wasn't helped by me wfh for this long. That was the point. DD never had to be home alone, so she never learned to deal with it.

Likewise, if OP's DD never puts herself out there, she will never learn to overcome her anxiety.

[Anonymous]

I don't have any statistics for you, OP, but as the parent of 8th grade boy who developed anxiety during the pandemic, I just wanted to say I sympathize with your predicament.

I doubt you'll find a statistic that is specific to MCPS or Whitman. But perhaps you can think of other ways to help your DD feel more comfortable in that choice - see if she can tour Whitman and definitely plan for the 'orientation' most MCPS schools just before school reopens. Does she have friends going to Whitman who she can arrange to go with?

Your DD should also know that sometimes schools have issues that might seem scary but are not. We're in BCC and there have been a few times where the school has gone into shelter-in-place for a false report of a gun or a sick (or drunk) kid who needs medical attention. From the PTA listserv, these incidents made a lot of kids and parents completely hysterical even though no one was in any danger. Being aware in advance that the school may institute safety protocols for a variety of reasons might have helped avoid that.