Gun threats, bathroom fights, community outrage: Why school safety is becoming a big deal

Los Angeles Times

6 days ago

There was a hush in the room as Manhattan Beach Middle School teacher Elizabeth Laffoon approached the podium in the crowded MBUSD board room in March. Students, parents and educators filled every seat — and hundreds more attended on Zoom — ready to express outrage over how the district had handled an incident in which a student brought a gun to the school the week before. They questioned why the district failed to communicate the incident to families immediately and voiced distrust over the administration's ability to handle future dangerous situations.
An investigation had been initiated, but the community was frustrated because no lockdown occurred, and families and staff were not notified until that night.
'Children talk. Rumors and stories spread like wildfire. I didn't know what to believe,' Laffoon said as she stood at the podium and read from a statement written by a MBMS student. 'To think that such an incident would occur is utterly horrifying.'
Though school violence had been on a downward trajectory across California the two decades prior to the pandemic, conversations over school safety have taken center spotlight over the last few years, particularly in several districts across Los Angeles County. Isolation during the pandemic coupled with social media's increased role in fights and instances of violence have helped fuel the problem, according to experts.
'What we cannot do is bury our heads in the sand, and act as if we don't see these things happening and hope that they get better,' UCLA education professor Tyrone Howard said.
The COVID-19 outbreak and its impact on social-emotional learning
When the pandemic hit in 2020, students across California were forced to transition from in-person schooling to remote learning for more than a year and a half. That transition brought tremendous impacts on children' s psychosocial development, according to child, adolescent, and adult psychiatrist Daniel Waldman. During the 2021-22 school year, 87% of public schools reported that the COVID-19 outbreak compromised student socio-emotional development.
Since the return to in-person learning in 2022, instances of fighting and physical aggression at LAUSD schools have almost doubled . Four guns were discovered at LAUSD high schools in August, and district data revealed that threats on its campuses increased by 10% between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years.
In the Manhattan Beach School District, the percentage of suspensions due to violence with injury and non-injury doubled from 2019 to 2024. This school year alone, the district dealt with numerous fights, the discovery of a handgun on campus and a bomb threat.
Nearby Redondo Union High School dealt with two gun threats in December 2023. The percentage of suspensions due to weapons and violence without injury also more than doubled from 2019 to 2024.
Students crowd the front gate of Redondo Union High School, trying to leave campus after the administration ended the lockdown in December 2023. (Photo courtesy of Ethan Lerner)
All three districts have since orchestrated new safety protocols or wellness programs to help address community concerns. For instance, MBUSD is refining strategies to address student behavior, by updating the Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports framework.
It is critical that these efforts are not in vain, because schools do not just help students grow academically but help them learn how to interact with others and build relationships, Howard said. This was impossible while students stared at a computer screen for hours on end, he added.
'Some students missed some of that crucial time to learn about how to develop social skills, how to deal with problem solving, and how to address conflicts with peers,' Howard said. 'Students were not able to capture that in the virtual learning environment because we were so depersonalized.'
Young students who missed out on these opportunities to develop interpersonal skills are more likely to develop behavioral issues , demonstrating a greater potential to engage in dangerous activity, according to a BMC Pediatrics study.
'We see that mental health challenges in people have gone up significantly since the pandemic, and it lets you know that learning is going to be compromised,' Howard said. 'Many young people are still dealing with the aftermath today.'
Fights, social media and the digital age
At Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, a fight broke out between two high school girls in a bathroom located in the locker hallway. As the fight escalated, two more students joined in while bystanders filmed the incident and shared it on Snapchat.
Fights are nothing new and have always been an issue at middle and high schools. However, they have become increasingly common in recent years for another important reason: social media, Howard said.
'In my day, when there was a fight, kids would run to try to break it up,' he said. 'Now, at school, all the students have their phones out to record the fight.'
Social media is used to publicize violent events, but it can also instigate them. The possibility of creating viral content or getting a multitude of likes encourages people to act out, promoting extremist and dangerous behavior, Howard said. Fights and peer conflict don't just happen on their own. Issues such as bullying or cyber-bullying often build tension between people, leading directly to physical aggression.
'We live in what I call a copycat culture,' Howard said. 'Copycat culture is one where people are trying to see what they can do that mimics other people who get attention and get lots of likes.'
This is especially relevant to middle and high school students, who are in the midst of developing their character and discovering who they are, and the person they want to become, said Laffoon, who has watched her students evolve from sixth to eighth graders. She added that interacting with friends and adults, and learning to navigate different situations shapes ones' reputation and self-image.
Waldman agreed, adding that middle school students are especially impacted by how their peers view them, as that directly influences how they view themselves.
'One aspect of adolescent development is that teenagers tend to prioritize their peer connections, and they are strongly influenced by their peers,' Waldman said. 'Social media has the potential to ratchet that up because of all the varied things they see kids their age doing online.'
How districts are responding
Some schools are attempting to resolve the issue by addressing mental health. Districts are implementing new policies and assemblies to spread mental health awareness as data continues to point to a need for such resources. A study from The School Pulse Panel showed that 70% of school districts in the United States had an increase in the number of students seeking mental health referrals since 2020.
'We have to do a better job at having more counselors, psychologists, and therapists on our campuses,' Howard said. 'Young people who initiate violence often engage because they have been on the receiving end of some kind of violence at school or at home.'
There isn't one simple solution to school violence, but schools and families can take small steps to help prevent it from increasing and continuing to threaten the safety of students and staff, Howard said.
Redondo Union High School experimented with one potential solution after two students brought weapons to school in 2023. The school closed campus the following day and began new security measures, including walk-through metal detectors and bag searches at every entrance.
'This was something we went through but shouldn't have had to in any world,' said Katy Otey, a recent graduate of Redondo Union. 'The security system was necessary no matter how annoying.'
Otey said metal detectors helped reassure many worried students and parents but caused some students to be more than 90 minutes late to class. She said schools need to consider less extreme, more realistic solutions.
In LAUSD, the presence of school police is a proposed solution to decrease campus violence. In 2020, the district removed police from school campuses and cut the department's budget by 35%. Parents, students and teachers have clashed over whether police presence on campus makes students feel safe or unsafe .
LAUSD is also in the process of implementing improved surveillance systems to enhance security and supervision.
MBUSD has taken some steps after the events that transpired at MBMS and Mira Costa High School this year. The MBUSD administration is organizing a districtwide safety training in August for all school employees. The development of new activities related to the Anti-Defamation League's 'No Place for Hate' program are also underway, along with updates to safety and communication protocols.
After the gun incident in March, MBUSD has made efforts to enhance security and increase response training. The district hired three outside entities to help refine school safety measures, outline school safety plans, and organize emergency training sessions.
Laffoon believes the district has made significant progress, but that there is still room for change and improvement to be made.
'We got lucky that nothing [happened] in terms of harm to anyone, physically,' Laffoon said. 'There was harm done emotionally. The student, his family, his teachers, the students on campus, and the community…it impacts everyone.'
Elizabeth Laffoon speaks out during a school board meeting on March 26, 2025. She addresses the school board with dozens of community members in attendance in the MBUSD board room. Related