Griffin Johnston, 4th period, Security officials learned from their improved their tactics after Columbine shooting to stop Arapahoe High School shooter

            On Foxnews.com the Associated Press reports on the success of the security measures put into place after the Columbine shooting in the recent shooting at Arapahoe High School. Karl Pierson, the shooter, was said to have shot himself after shooting his only victim and as a, the words of the article, “fast-acting school security officer, a deputy sheriff, closed in.” The prompt and aggressive action by the security officer prevented more casualties and was a revised tactic different from the tactic used by Columbine police officers who closed off the school. As the governer of Colorado said, “It’s nice to see how well the system worked. It’s a remarkable improvement from before. This could have been much, much worse.”

            Mistakes and flaws often bring about better results that if those mistakes were successes. The ability to learn from our mistakes shows tremendous maturity and sophistication and proved to be beneficial to the safety and well being of the students of Arapahoe High School. However the blemish that is still blatant (especially with this being among the multiple shootings in schools and public places) is the fact that he was able to walk into the school with a gun and get a shot off. Furthermore, the motive of the shooter does not fit with the lack-of-motive-mentally-unstable pattern that is ubiquitous in most recent shootings. The boy was said to have been, “a funny kid…smart…in the Eagle Scouts, a very intelligient kid.” Pierson also, “did not like being wrong.” The reason for the shooting was said to have been anger towards the librarian, who is also the debate coach, who had reprimanded him. As the governor said, the shooting, “defies any explanation, and you know we are searching for some pattern.” With all of the efforts to prevent these types of things from happening, we must not raise up our expectations to the point of saying that we “should” be able to completely stop these sorts of things from ever happening again. There is only so much the government can do. We often here these type of events in the news and get caught into thinking that the world has become a much more horrible place and the number of shootings have increased. However, according to Pew Research, the amount of shootings has decreased in the last several years. The media can tend to exaggerate the amount of shootings. This is a blessing. We become more aware of crimes around the nation and world and therefore be better able to improve.   Though we can never become complacent, we must have a positive outlook towards our current position while constantly seeking to improve. Strive for perfection even though you know you cannot get there.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/16/colorado-governor-visits-school-shooting-victim-says-post-columbine-security/?intcmp=obnetwork