Pa. school district stocks classrooms with rocks to combat school shooters

MSN.com ^ | 3/23/2018 | Avery Anapol

[Beave Meister]

A Pennsylvania school district has armed its students with rocks to defend themselves in the event of a school shooting.

David Helsel, the superintendent of Blue Mountain School District in Schuylkill County, said at a state House Education Committee hearing on school safety this week that his district's classrooms are equipped with 5-gallon buckets of river rocks.

"If an armed intruder attempts to gain entrance to any of our classrooms, they will face a classroom full of students armed with rocks," he said. "And they will be stoned."

Helsel emphasized to Buzzfeed News that the so-called "go buckets" are a "last-resort" effort in the district's active school shooter defense plan, which also includes automatic door-securing technology and lock-in and lockdown procedures.

Helsel said that the buckets have been in classrooms for two years. Media outlets picked up the story this week after he spoke about the plan at the hearing. He said that he thinks news outlets have taken the plan "out of context to make it look silly."

[DuncanWaring]

Stoning?

Sounds Biblical!

Eeek!

Separation of Church and State!

Separation of Church and State!

[DoodleBob]

Will they let the female teachers have access to the buckets or must they disguise themselves first?

[mass55th]

Well, if they can’t teach them how to read and write, maybe they can teach them how to kill two birds with one stone.

[OKSooner]

Despair in motion.

[crusher2013]

20 Rocks will distract the shooter for a couple of seconds.

But then someone is going to have to charge and tackle him.

Who goes first?

[oldasrocks]

Stoning? Isn’t that racist? If they find out the teacher had an affair will they decide to stone her?

[Sacajaweau]

Of course you have to think about "Rocks" for a moment....This is a solution?

This is what every citizens weapons should be according to Hogg....and might be without the Second Amendment.

This is why there were no children at the Constitutional Convention.

Throw a damn book for cripes sakes....at least cause chaos for the shooter.

No common sense. The kid should not have been able to get into the building.

[alloysteel]

Rocks. Rocks, yeah, that’ll work, that’s the ticket. Just as David used his slingshot to strike Goliath in the forehead, causing an instant cerebral hemorrhage.

Now can the kids develop a little expertise on the slingshot to they can attain this kind of accuracy?

[shanover]

He said that he thinks news outlets have taken the plan "out of context to make it look silly."

OMG, it is more than silly IDIOT!

[CMailBag]

It makes more sense than putting up a sign that says NOBODY here is going to shoot back.

[William Tell]

What is a firearm? It's a machine that launches a small, lead projectile at high speed toward a target. It's a chemically powered "rock" throwing device.

Nevertheless, a bucket of rocks is better than nothing. It represents a determination to die fighting rather than just hide. We should encourage every school to stop being a "rock-free zone". When that becomes common, the next steps will become obvious.

[Songcraft]

As long as they aren't using assault rocks.

[Tudorfly]

Is it wise to bring a rock to a gunfight? How many of the kids in grades K-4 are proficient, accurate rock throwers? One would think that arming the teachers with an appropriate firearm would be more effective.

[Darth Republican]

Hey Bud... did someone say something 'bout gettin' stoned?

[Trillian]

At least they’re not suggesting dildos again. I don’t think this level of stupid can be fixed.

[alternatives?]

Math quiz.

If a classroom has 20 rocks and 20 students, how many are dumb as rocks?

[BradyLS]

20 Rocks will distract the shooter for a couple of seconds. But then someone is going to have to charge and tackle him. Who goes first?

Whatever you do, don't let any students—especially any strong and fast ones involved in sports—watch 3:17 to Paris. One of them might exhibit courage and embarrass a resource officer!

[Pollster1]

I would modify this a little. Rock is nowhere near as dense as lead, so I would use lead, formed into balls so they will fly straight. Also, it's sexist, racist, ageist, and otherwise exploitative to make a child's defense against violence depend on muscle mass. The schools should include a simple and reliable mechanism for accurately launching the lead balls at high speed.

My vote: "Glocks, not rocks." It's a shame leftists are . . .

[Secret Agent Man]

I hope none of them are assault rocks.

[bravo whiskey]

Of course I want armed teachers. Frankly I think anyone with a CHP should be allowed to carry everywhere but through permanent metal detectors. And get rid of that stupid school gun zone law of 1990? which makes anyone who carries legally out of state a criminal at some point I their visit
HOWEVER if the lone murderer is looking for a body count a determined defense most likely will see him moving on and looking for a softer target. This assumes the schools run some sort of drills but I see that as unlikely. Might scare some snowflakes. U recall years ago the suggestion of canned food instead of rocks. At the end of the year have a food drive.