Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland.  All these towns names evoke feelings in us of sadness and helplessness thinking of the young lives lost in senseless school shootings over recent years.  In 2018, school shootings have hit an all-time high.  While the government argues over whether gun control is the answer, concerned citizens wonder what smaller, attainable measures can be taken to try and ensure the safety of America’s students and teachers.  You may ask, why is a magnet company writing about school shootings and safety measures?  The answer is lockdown magnets.

Lockdown Magnets are strips of flexible magnet that can be placed over the strike plate and attract to the school’s metal door jamb.  The magnet allows teachers to keep the classroom door locked at all times, but by blocking the latch from going into the door jamb, the door can still open and close freely throughout the typical school day.  If a lockdown situation should occur, instead of the teacher having to go into the hallway, putting them at danger, and fumbling around with a key to lock the door from the outside, they simply must pull off the lockdown magnet and close the door.  Within seconds the door will be securely locked from inside of the classroom, helping to keep anyone looking to cause harm from easily entering the room.  Lockdown magnets are not only highly effective, but a very economically feasible safety measure for school districts to implement.

Another way that schools can use magnets to help secure their safety during a lockdown is by using flexible magnetic sheets to cover the windows in the classroom door.  Flexible sheeting is wider than strip magnet and can be custom cut to fit whatever window size schools have.  So long as school doors are made of metal or at least the frame of the window is magnetic receptive, a sheet of magnet can be easily placed over the window obscuring the view of students in the classroom from an assailant roaming the halls.  This magnet can either just remain on a metal door, a magnetic whiteboard or be rolled up when not in use and kept easily accessible in a lockdown situation. 

Nobody wants to think about the unimaginable horror of a school shooting occurring in their school or hometown, but sadly, schools today must be prepared for the worst.  Lockdown Magnets  and magnetic sheeting to cover windows are highly effective, highly affordable safety measures that may help to save lives.