Thirty years ago, school safety drills mostly involved fire alarms and teachers yelling about imaginary flames while we lined up, giggling. The biggest threat? Forgetting your PE kit or being picked last for rounders.
These days, for too many children, school is shadowed by a very different fear: metal detectors, lockdown drills, and the unspoken anxiety that one day, someone might walk through the door with a weapon.
What happened? What has changed in those three decades to turn places of learning into fortresses?
A World That Feels More Dangerous — But Is It?
The truth is, violence isn’t new. History is littered with conflict, and sadly, violence has always found its way into schools in some form. But mass violence, planned, deliberate acts designed to terrify and destroy has escalated, especially in certain parts of the world.
Based on media reports, America’s school shooting epidemic is the most glaring example. In the UK and much of Europe, mass school violence is rarer, but fear has crossed the ocean. Lockdown drills are now part of the school day, and metal detectors, once reserved for airports, have crept into some of our schools. I have been told that in some state schools, teachers’desks are reenforced with a plastic shield to reduce the risk of them being spat upon or worse…
We’re left asking: what’s driving this?
1. Easy Access to Weapons
In many countries, weapons, especially guns are more available than ever. In the US, it’s guns. In the UK, it’s knives. The common thread? Weapons have become more accessible to younger people.
We live in a world where disputes that once ended in playground scuffles can escalate into life-or-death situations because the tools of violence are easier to get, cheaper, and perhaps, more worryingly, glamorized online.
2. Social Media and the Glorification of Violence
When we were kids, if you wanted to show off, you told your mates on the bus. Today, one viral video can turn someone into a digital legend, even if that ‘fame’ comes from violence.
Social media has created a warped ecosystem where fights are filmed, shared, and celebrated. Young people, already struggling with identity and emotions, see violence rewarded with views, likes, and shares.
In some of the worst cases, attackers seek notoriety, knowing their name will be trending globally in minutes.
3. Mental Health Crisis and a Loss of Community
The sad part seems to be that kids today carry more invisible baggage than we did. Mental health issues have skyrocketed, fuelled by everything from social media pressures to the cost-of-living crisis, broken homes, and the loneliness epidemic.
Communities that once raised children together have splintered. Schools, once safe havens, now feel like battlegrounds, struggling to cope with problems that society has dumped at their gates.
4. Fear Begets Fear; The Security Arms Race
Here’s the irony: every time a new security measure is introduced, a metal detector, armed guards, surveillance cameras, it reminds kids why those measures are needed.
We tell them to “feel safe,” but the daily visual of security gates says the opposite and the fear becomes normalized. Lockdown drills become as common as fire drills, and somewhere along the line, childhood innocence is lost.
What Has Changed?
Maybe it’s less about the world suddenly becoming more dangerous and more about the layers of disconnect, fear, and exposure building up around us:
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Weapons became easier to get.
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Social media turned violence into content.
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Mental health support crumbled just as the need skyrocketed.
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Communities weakened.
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Schools were forced to play defense instead of focusing on education.
What Do We Do Now?
The hardest part of this conversation is admitting that there are no simple fixes.
Metal detectors might catch weapons, CCTV might catch a fight; but they won’t stop the root causes.
We need to rebuild community ties.
We need to fund mental health support in schools, not just for extreme cases but for every child carrying quiet, invisible pain.
We need to stop glorifying violence online and start showing kids that bravery isn’t about throwing punches or carrying blades, it’s about choosing kindness in a world that keeps pushing anger.
Thirty years ago, our biggest schoolyard worry was whether our crush noticed us or if we’d be caught with a tamagotchi in our bag. Today, too many children carry fears they should never have to know: bullets, knives, and whether their school is really safe.
We owe it to them to ask why and to fight for better answers than just another metal detector at the door.
Because a school should be a place where you learn history and play sport in the playground, not what to do if a gunman comes in…
Photo by Kelli Tungay
