School officials throughout the nation are seeking solutions to help ease fears about deadly shootings on campuses.

In states like Tennessee, there have been efforts to encourage teachers to carry concealed firearms for the safety of their students. However, a less controversial solution to the unpredictable danger of school shootings is the implementation of school safe-room systems.

Kevin Thomas, creator of the popular “Rapid-Deploy Safe Room System,” was recently interviewed by CNN.

“I can’t make laws, I can’t change legislation, but what I can do is build these panels, and I can have them installed in schools,” Thomas said.

His solution leads the way in school safety engineering.

During the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton, Colorado, carried out by Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, a SWAT team took approximately 47 minutes to enter the high school after the shooting began, according to Newsweek.com. Demonstration videos online show the safe-room system can be implemented in about 10 seconds.

If schools implemented them, students would have an effective way to stay safe during that period of horror. The room can also act as a way to reassure parents that sending their children to school is not a precarious risk.

These safe-room systems look like regular whiteboards (or chalkboards) and function like their lookalike counterparts. In an emergency, the teacher would promptly assemble the safe room by sliding a latch and pulling from a hinge in the center. Once extended into the classroom, the door of the shelter can be closed with all of the kids inside. It can only be unlocked from the inside, meaning the shooter won’t be able to go in.

The whiteboards are made of ballistic-resistant material. In other words, they are bulletproof.

Unfortunately, ideas like this must be taken as we try to ensure that attending school doesn’t result in fatality. Measures like this one could save lives throughout America, as violence only continues to increase. According to USAfacts.org, during the 2021-22 school year, the United States witnessed the highest number of school shootings since records began in 2000.

A staggering 327 incidents occurred, resulting in 81 deaths and 269 injuries. With a lack of other practical solutions to children’s safety in a shooting, the arrival of this “safe room” idea could inspire more innovation in tackling the issue.

The whiteboards aren’t cheap and some might ask how the $60,000 per room cost is justified considering the extremely small chance of a school shooting. However, it can serve many purposes, especially in the case of a natural disaster. The safe room can protect students from tornados, severe storms and earthquakes. As Northern Californians, we know well the risk of natural disasters has gone up in recent years due to the impacts of climate change.

We are public school students, so talks about safety from intruders are familiar. We have drills where we stay silent, hide under desks and try to make our classroom look empty in hopes the shooter will move on. In reality, we know that if we were actually in that situation, we would be trying to find somewhere safer to hide.

The whiteboard safe-room system, even if it were installed in just a few of the classrooms, would be a good course of action that would give us a solution in a crisis. That feeling of security when learning is priceless.

Some schools elsewhere have installed the systems. Thankfully, they have never been used in a real high-risk situation. We are certain the feeling of security they provide is comforting.

Students should not have to worry about their safety when learning, so it is time we explored a bipartisan solution to assuring safety. It’s hard to argue that whiteboard safe-room systems don’t belong in every classroom in America.