From armed marshals to surveillance software, Montana school districts are responding to the drumbeat of national tragedies with an array of tactics aimed at keeping students safe.
School marshalls? What on earth is going on over there in the US? Why is it the rest of developed nations aren't having this shooting issue, yet your children over your side of the pond have to learn how to take cover (sometimes in a crowd so others get hit instead) and run in a zig-zag. Sounds like a bleeding nightmare warzone.
in fairness to the main guy profiled in this story, his job is substantially more extensive than just school shootings and most of these are pretty important things to have contingencies for:
The proximity of the Porcupine Fire to Big Sky’s school campus speaks to a point easily obscured by the persistent shadow of national school tragedies like Sandy Hook and Uvalde: Active shooters aren’t the only threat Montana schools have to prepare for. Earthquakes, hazmat spills, propane explosions, fires on or off school property — much of the responsibility for anticipating and responding to such threats is now on Daugherty’s shoulders as he updates the district’s contingency plans for a variety of potential crises and works with local entities like the Big Sky Fire Department and Big Sky Medical Center to improve cross-agency communication.
Although shootings and the like are not a problem in the UK, when I went back into education this year at a "further education college" (which differs from college as it's meant in the US - this is an institution that provides education for those aged 16+, so includes both minors and adults), we nevertheless had occasional drills for what to do in the event of a shooting or other attack. I think it's not as comprehensive as the preparations students in American schools need to make, but it was still something the college prepared for with the same regularity as the potential for evacuation during a fire.
So even in non-US developed nations, the potential for this kind of violence is acknowledged as a risk.