Dive Brief:

• A Pennsylvania high school student went on a stabbing spree Wednesday morning, injuring as many as 20 people and seriously wounding four students.

• The suspect, a male student at Franklin Regional High School, has since been taken into custody.  All of those injured are expected to survive. 

• Education Secretary Arne Duncan addressed the tragedy, saying the event was a reminder that students and staff deserve to work and learn in a safe environment. 

Dive Insight:

This is an awful tragedy and brings up profound issues associated with school safety. While the New York Times recently wrote an article on the ethics of undercover TV reporters sneaking into schools to test security, events like this show how very important such measures are. It’s not enough to have school securities and procedures for emergencies; schools need to have effective securities and procedures.

The event also brings up issues with addressing holistic approaches to education — addressing the entire needs of a child.  As many have already begun to ask, what went wrong here?