Over the past year, Florida’s Broward County—home to Parkland–spent more than $1.1 million on security cameras alone, and they’re not stopping there. Currently on the table is a next generation surveillance system called “intelligent video analytics.”

Police use it, retailers, too, and now so do schools—lots of them–replacing bored security guards staring mindlessly at screens with “an unblinking artificial intelligence monitoring the videos.”

Such steps are required in this troubling new world we’ve created for ourselves.

In 2018 alone:

• 35 people were killed in school shootings;
• 28 of them students,
• 7 were school employees or other adults.

Of the 25 suspects:

• 13 were students, 9 of whom attended the school where the shooting took place; 4 went to a different school.
• 19 were male; 2 were female, and 4 are unknown.

In the 13 incidents that occurred during school hours:

• 2 took place in an elementary school,
• 4 in a middle school
• and 18 in a high school.

By the way: ten of those schools had police officers/SROs on the job.

Another sign of the times: The School District of Philadelphia has just announced it may require that all 49 of its high schools use walk-through metal detectors, but not everyone is on board.

As Charles Mitchell, a sophomore at Philly’s Workshop School, put it, “Starting the day with police officers and metal detectors makes students feel scared and stressed… A lot of kids think this is just normal, but it’s not. Schools are meant to e a place where you can express yourself and become who you are. But if you’re treating us like criminals, then that just might be how we turn out.”

Out of the mouths of babes…