The Lessons Learned for School Design Shouldn't Come From Trench Warfare

Originally published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lessons-learned-school-design-shouldnt-come-from-trench-marcel-harmon/

The Washington Post recently ran an article on the design of a Michigan high school. What made the design news worthy to the Post was the incorporation of World War 1 trench zigzag patterns to "dampen the killing potential of a mass shooter."

Full stop. Let that sink in.

The current environment of our nation is driving us to do such things as a) use the lessons from trench warfare to lay out our schools, b) ask our students to wear bullet proof backpacks, and c) teach battlefield wound treatment techniques to students and teachers. Just stop and think how truly bizarre this is. 

I get it. We have to deal with the immediate situation we find ourselves in. But all of the time and money we're spending dealing with these events themselves - the potential active shooters - take away from our schools' primary mission. The acts of preparing for such events alone also lead to trauma, the aftereffects which some students & teachers will be dealing w/ for some time. And let's not forget that some districts/communities have far more resources available to devote to such measures than others.

This also normalizes gun violence, along with easy access to semi-automatic rifles, high capacity magazines, and other weapons citizens should arguably not have access to. The following statement from an architect quoted in the article suggests he's throwing up his hands and essentially accepting this as the norm: “Unfortunately, that’s the way things are now. We’ll never make it completely safe from someone who desires to cause harm.”

I call BS to that just being the way things are. While more research is needed, the evidence we do have indicates more effective gun control legislation would reduce gun violence and mass shootings, as well as gun suicides. And I've written on this before relative to schools and the AEC Industry:

• Designing for School Safety – Don’t Forget the Elephant in the Classroom

• Biophilia, School Security, and the AEC Industry’s Role in Addressing Gun Violence 

So, if you're a) in the AEC Industry making money via some aspect of school security/safety related consulting, product development, or sales and b) you're not also advocating for federal funding of gun policy research and the implementation of gun control legislation based on what is currently known, then you're helping perpetuate the problem. Do better. Be better. Our kids and teachers/staff deserve that.