Guns in DCPS
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| Does DCPS have any policies other than metal detectors that keep guns say from our students? My kid was told in lower elementary by a classmate that there was a gun in the school. Then this year, in 5th, he witnessed the Track meet shooting up close. He’s has been having occasional nightmares since. He’s about to star MS and I’m terrified for him and looking into moving to Arlington. Is this the usual experience for DCPS kids? |
Anonymous
| *away (not say) |
Anonymous
Any reports of guns in the school should be immediately reported to admin. I find that weapons abatement does work well though and at times when it hasn't (not in awhile at secondary schools I have worked in) we have immediately gone on lockdown while authorities look to find it. Chapter 25 does have strong rules about weapons in schools. https://dcps.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/dcps/publication/attachments/Safe%20%26%20Positive%20Schools%20Policy_FINAL_2.2.23.pdf Arlington is not some magical place where nothing bad ever happens though. My sister's children go to APS and there have been issues with things, like students OD in the bathroom. Here is one report: https://www.arlnow.com/2024/01/08/police-investigated-another-potential-overdose-at-wakefield-high-school-last-week/. You have to do what is best for your piece of mind and your child though. |
Anonymous
Get out of DCPS and the city especially if your kid will be going to a high poverty middle school. He is already traumatized by his experience. I say this as a parent in DC. |
Anonymous
| What policies would you like DCPS to have? I can’t think of a single policy the school system could have that would keep someone who wanted to bring a gun from doing so. |
Anonymous
| Honestly, DCPS middle schools are probably the safest in the area in terms of potential gun violence because of the metal detectors. |
Anonymous
You have got to be joking. Google shootings just outside of schools in DC. |
Anonymous
This thread and the post are about guns in schools in the hands of students. |
Anonymous
No it’s not. OP is asking if there are policies that keep guns away from students. There is not and there are students who carry guns and fights and heated arguments just outside of schools lead to deadly shootings. In addition, gangs and drugs also add to the problem. It’s easy to target a kid when you know what school they go to. |
Anonymous
Yes. But no one is targeting random kids just because they go to DCPS. |
Anonymous
The vast majority of school shootings happen immediately outside the school, for this reason. You know where that kid is going to be 8ish hours a day. |
Anonymous
| IME DCPS has done a really good job expelling the very few- 2 this year, I believe one last year- kids who bring guns to school and get caught. There’s a zero tolerance policy that’s actually practiced, and I think it really does a good job because kids really really don’t want to deal with expulsion. |
Anonymous
|
your child is more likely to be shot inside a school in the burbs; specifically white suburbs.
in DC your child is less likely to be an innocent bystander walking by. shootings outside DC schools happen at night and late at night most of the time because we are a city and most of the time you are near a school. you don't want to send your kid to a school that is majority minority (black and brown specifically) and it shows. if you can't afford to move to another part of DC you are the same as those minorities and that is your local public school. |
Anonymous
+1 There are two separate issues in this thread. I feel strongly about this topic as somebody who attended a school where there was a school shooting as a child. The overarching issue, which has nothing to do with DC schools is the ability for young people to access guns. Arguments and altercations have always happened, but when there is a gun involved, it is obviously a different ball game. As somebody whose kids attend a DCPS middle school , I like the fact that they have metal detectors because it reassures me there will be no guns in the building. Also, the fact that they collect cell phones in DC middle schools impacts altercations and fights as well. Obviously someone can still target somebody outside of a school regardless of cell phone policies, but there has been research about reductions in altercations and fights when kids don’t have their cell phones to share information or build/hype up a beef or fight. Unfortunately, at this point guns are prevalent in all corners of our society regardless of where you live. You will need to have a conversation with your kid about the topic. And statistically your kid is safer from mass/school shooting type events if they are in DC. |
Anonymous
Newsflash - the kids who have the guns and are carrying the guns have the highest truancy rate. It’s not like they are going to school and care about it. They will go when they want (dealing, etc..) and there is nothing you can do when they are just outside the school with guns. |