Whitman / Chances of Violence

[Anonymous]

OP up until recently I was a Whitman parent. The doors are locked at all times - you have to be buzzed into the building and that doesn't mean directly into a corridor of kids, it means into an anteroom which is adjacent to the office. There are security people in the school as well.
I have entered prisons which have felt less secure.

They do have drills, lockdown drills as well as fire drills so that could be stressful for your daughter. But they would never pretend it was a real situation during a drill.

I hope this is helpful. I don't have stats. Both my kids always felt safe there, their main complaint was people vaping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

1. Google it

2. Nothing


Go private.

[Anonymous]

The attacks at Whitman so far have been with frying pans, not guns:
https://www.mymcmedia.org/student-assaulted-with-frying-pan-at-walt-whitman-high/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

1. Google it

2. Nothing


Go private.

Shootings happen at private schools too. Look at what just happened in TN. We are also about to hit the one year anniversary of the MCPS alum sniper shooting at Edmund Burke in DC.

Unfortunately, schools, movie theaters, places of worship, grocery stores, music festivals and any other place where groups of people gather are fair game for the kind of mentally unstable people that seek mass shootings as their preferred suicide method.

[Anonymous]

^^ did you read the OP, do you think that in any way whatsoever your crazy diatribe about shootings is going to assuage the fears of her kid? Listen to yourself.

[Anonymous]

Shootings are equal opportunity. Public schools, private schools, movie theaters, malls. The choice of school isn’t going to increase or decrease her odds.

[Anonymous]

It's basically 0%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:^^ did you read the OP, do you think that in any way whatsoever your crazy diatribe about shootings is going to assuage the fears of her kid? Listen to yourself.

No, the other PP is entirely right.

What we need is a strict gun ban. It does't matter that there are already a ton of guns owed by private individuals. These haven't shot anyone. The immense majority of school shooters had to purchase their own guns. A gun ban will put a stop to a lot of gun violence, as other countries have amply demonstrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's basically 0%

That is not true by a long shot

[Anonymous]

There are over 100,000 K-12 schools in the US. Odds are very, very low that Whitman would be targeted. But not zero.

Also low odds you'll have your house blow up from a gas leak, drown at the pool, or get run over by a car walking to school. All of those are more likely than a school shooting, though, in MoCo at least.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

I'm confused why you did not pick one of the private schools if your DD got in. Are you coming from private or public? There are many things at public HS that can be unhelpful to a child/teen with anxiety so I'm wondering what you saw as the pros/cons

[Anonymous]

The PP is right, the stats won’t help assuage her anxiety, because that’s not how anxiety works. It doesn’t respond to facts and figures.

Best to find a good therapist who will help her manage it, because even if you send her to the safestest private school imaginable, that anxiety will find someplace else to attach itself if left untreated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PP is right, the stats won’t help assuage her anxiety, because that’s not how anxiety works. It doesn’t respond to facts and figures.

Best to find a good therapist who will help her manage it, because even if you send her to the safestest private school imaginable, that anxiety will find someplace else to attach itself if left untreated.

Ugh—“safest,” not “safestest.” Where’s autocorrect when I need it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The attacks at Whitman so far have been with frying pans, not guns:
https://www.mymcmedia.org/student-assaulted-with-frying-pan-at-walt-whitman-high/

Weren't there some knife attacks at a couple W's earlier this year?

[Anonymous]

Go private? there was a targeted shooting at Edmund Burke a year ago...these fears are real and honestly they are reasonable. Work with a therapist and send her where she will thrive, but avoiding gun violence is not really possible since it can happen anywhere.