How a Lockdown in School Prevented Another Shooting Tragedy in Arkansas

There are valuable lessons to be learned in how the school system, students, and faculty managed to evade this crisis. While technology played a key role, it was the teachers and students of Marion that should be thanked. According to local news coverage, Marion had been practicing emergency safety procedures in the weeks prior to the incident, including an active shooter drill. “They do things quickly; they take care of it as soon as it happens. I knew they had everything under control, I wasn’t worried about that,” a student’s parent told Fox news, “I just think about the stuff that happened at other schools, Jonesboro and different things, anything could happen any minute; somebody could start shooting.”

The app was quick and effective, ensuring every student was able to evacuate to a safety point. The Panic Button app was introduced to public schools after the Arkansas state legislature mandated that notification and emergency safety technology would be part of the state’s public safety plan.

The active shooting reports in the past couple of years are an understandable cause for concern for parents and students alike. While reports of active shooters have become common in the contemporary news cycle, it’s rare to hear about school shootings that were prevented. It’s important that schools establish a comprehensive emergency plan that can adapt to address potential threats, and as in Marion, Arkansas, even prevent these situations from occurring. Technology solutions are on the forefront of tackling these safety challenges, and as it is introduced into school systems these situations will become easier to anticipate and prevent.