School lockdowns and security seem to be the popular trends in today&8217;s news.

From a hostage situations and murder at a high school in Colorado to the murder of five girls at a one-room Amish schoolhouse last month, fears are rising about the safety of our schools.

Shelby County schools are blessed to be located in low-crime neighborhoods and towns. There is a sense, similar to that of many small town schools across the country, I&8217;m sure, that a shooting &045; or even a murder &045; at a school could never happen here.

That line of thinking could prove disastrous, and even deadly, if we choose to rest our heads on it.

Every school in the U.S. has its bully.

Every school has its gangs and it cliques.

Every high school student is looking to fit in somewhere &045; and every school is inevitably going to have its rejects.

The explosion of teenage emotions that come with high school years are hard to bear, and for some, too much to deal with.

But students in our schools are not the only threat to our children.

Without proper security measures both inside and outside of school buildings, we are leaving thousands of innocent children in the crosshairs.

Spain Park High School was recently presented the Alabama Safe Schools Award for 2006 by the Alabama Attorney General&8217;s office.

This is a great step in the right direction, but there is much more to be done.

On Nov. 1, representatives from Shelby County schools will join other Alabama school officials in Montgomery for a school safety summit.

This is another great step, but still, more needs to be done.

While locking down schools and frisking students on their way to class might be a little hasty, metal detectors, stricter guidelines for visitors and gun safety and awareness programs would be a good place to start on the long road to making our schools safer.

The excuse of, &8220;it could never happen here,&8221; will only last for so long