BATON ROUGE, La (BRPROUD) – Gov. John Bel Edwards recently signed a new law addressing school safety in Louisiana. On Tuesday, students reacted to the changes.
Twins Kelsey and Karleigh Wells are cheerleaders. They said cheer connects them with the other students and allows them to show off their school spirit.
“It makes you feel close to all your friends at school,” said Karleigh.
The duo will start their junior year at Live Oaks High School in the fall and said they don’t feel safe, like in previous years, because of school shootings.
“It could happen anywhere, like, at any school,” said Kelsey.
The School Safety Act is meant to help schools avoid active shooter scenarios and be more prepared to save lives attacked. The new law:
- Puts bleed control kits in every school.
- Trains designated employees on traumatic injury response.
- Increases regulations around school crisis management.
- Increases the number of school safety drills.
In a statement, the East Baton Rouge School System said it plans to start implementation before the 2023-24 school year starts.
“I mean I think we are doing it but we probably should do it more a little bit, but I think we are prepared, I guess,” said Kelsey.
“I think our teachers and everybody, like, makes sure that we are, like, everyone’s quiet and, like, everyone treats you as if it’s a real thing,” Karleigh said.
“Everyone takes it serious, so I think it’s good,” Kelsey said.
In the United States, more than 338,000 students have experienced gun violence at school since Columbine, according to the Sandy Hook Promise campaign.
“You never know what could happen, and then, like, certain people are at the school at the time, and it’s just good to be prepared for anything,” said Kelsey.
The Wells twins say this law makes them feel safer, and they cheer any effort to protect kids.
“You just have to know that it could happen to anybody,” said Kelsey.