Simple device could be key to survival in school lockdowns
»Play Video
OLYMPIA, Wash. -- More than a dozen school districts in our state are looking to improve safety during lock downs with a simple device invented by a Thurston County man.
Tom Kuehn invented the Safe Lock device after the terror attacks in 2001, but since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut last year, he's been getting more orders.
And that includes the Olympia School District, where he used to work.
It was installed in the doorway of fourth grade teacher Kim Daughty's McKenny Elementary classroom a few weeks ago. It prevents teachers from having to fumble for a key when they need to go into lockdown.
"Which one is my master key? Which one is my outdoor key?" she said. "And then I would have to go outside my classroom lock my door and make sure that it's locked."
Now, teachers just flip a lever installed at the door jam and the door automatically locks, keeping intruders out.
"It makes me feel safer because I don't really like when the teacher goes out of the classroom," said fourth grader Lizzie Flink. "It makes me scared like something's going to happen."
During the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut this year, teachers couldn't lock the doors without keys.
"Our goal is that staff and students are in a safer mode," Kuehn said.
Kuehn said he went through seven prototypes, before settling on one that would fit different configurations of doors. It's already installed in hundreds of school districts in 46 states.
For more information, check out globalinnovationsco.com
Tom Kuehn invented the Safe Lock device after the terror attacks in 2001, but since the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut last year, he's been getting more orders.
And that includes the Olympia School District, where he used to work.
It was installed in the doorway of fourth grade teacher Kim Daughty's McKenny Elementary classroom a few weeks ago. It prevents teachers from having to fumble for a key when they need to go into lockdown.
"Which one is my master key? Which one is my outdoor key?" she said. "And then I would have to go outside my classroom lock my door and make sure that it's locked."
Now, teachers just flip a lever installed at the door jam and the door automatically locks, keeping intruders out.
"It makes me feel safer because I don't really like when the teacher goes out of the classroom," said fourth grader Lizzie Flink. "It makes me scared like something's going to happen."
During the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Connecticut this year, teachers couldn't lock the doors without keys.
"Our goal is that staff and students are in a safer mode," Kuehn said.
Kuehn said he went through seven prototypes, before settling on one that would fit different configurations of doors. It's already installed in hundreds of school districts in 46 states.
For more information, check out globalinnovationsco.com
A nice idea but it would have been nice if the article reported how many times a year a school had to unlock the doors to gain access either when the device fails or when it is intentionally flipped when the teachers are out of the classroom. As others have commented here this could be a very serious danger to kids inside the room when the door is locked with the teachers on the outside.
The Columbine shooters attacked during lunchtime in what was essentially an open campus, many doors/open areas that can not be locked down during school hours. They entered the lunchroom by one door. This device would not have saved anyone there.
Once the shooter(s) is/are on campus the battle is essentially lost if preventing loss of any life is the priority. It is not hard to imagine the perspective shooters attacking during playtime when the kids are outside away from any locks or doors. The main objective is to convince the shooters that school zones are not safe for them, period. We can not do that with gun free zones, or by banning guns or any other legislative action that only law abiding citizens will follow.
My kids have gone through many lockdown drills and real live lockdowns when a threat is perceived. The school they go to now is an open campus, classroom doors are not inside a protected hallway, they are on the outside of the school. A shooter can easily gain access to a classroom before any lockdown alarm goes off. Many schools also have portable classrooms which are nothing but trailers setup external to any school structure.Â
We need to take down the "Gun Free" zones around schools. This has been proven over and over again to make the shooter(s) feel confident in their goals. We need to have the only weapon these shooters fear at the schools be it via police or properly trained and armed school administrators/teachers. These shooters though dumb are not stupid. They know where their highest success rate will be and they choose that. These devices will not stop a shooter getting on campus. It might stop the body counts of Sandy Hook but as I have been saying for a long time the number does not matter, one is tragic enough so lets keep the killers off campus in the first place.
@Beam_Me_Up "the number does not matter"?  That's a VERY callous disregard for the lives of the victims of such shootings.
If the use of these devices saved even one person they would have been well worth the cost of placing them on every classroom door in a school. Â
@My_Thoughts @Beam_Me_Up "My_Thoughts
24 minutes ago@Beam_Me_Up "the number does not matter"?  That's a VERY callous disregard for the lives of the victims of such shootings.
If the use of these devices saved even one person they would have been well worth the cost of placing them on every classroom door in a school."
Nothing like purposely moving a comment out of context. Did you even read my whole post? If so I said one is tragic enough, can't you read? Or as most trolls you try to incite reactions. This is why I posted your whole comment back to me so you can't delete yours later when you realize you have been outed for the troll you are.
So you would rather save one child from getting killed while sacrificing others? Is this what you mean? I mean to say something like you did means that someone else would have to die if only one was saved?
I don't want any child killed in the first place. I have children in school now and they have lived through lockdows, and these lockdowns come AFTER the perceived threat was already on campus. Before the lockdown that person that caused the lockdown could have entered any classroom. Thankfully these perceived threats have not been real but my kids still have had to stay in the classroom in a lockdown until police arrived and cleared the campus. And since it is an open campus the person was long gone before the police arrived.
So what are you willing to do to keep guns off of school campuses? Do you really think shooters pay attention to the gun free zones? The only reason the Sandy Hook shooter killed himself was because people with guns were close, unfortunately after he had already done his killing. Stop the killings in the first place!
Interesting to see all the negative comments here. Negative/ignorant comments by the many of the same commenters that do so elsewhere, and never seem to have anything constructive to say....
If you don't like it, so be it. But come up with your own novel approach instead just tearing down another's that might not be perfect but is at least a step in the right direction.
And at $7.95 it seems this is one of the least expensive purchases a school might make. They pay more for a box of pencils, I bet.
@DrugFighterHere's something even cheaper: require teachers and school staff to get training and start carrying firearms as part of their current duties under their collective bargaining agreements that contain provisions about student safety. Those same bargaining agreements, often having been rolled over for decades, have been interpreted to add in extra training for earthquakes, nuclear attacks, biological warfare, lockdowns, etc.
If they don't like it then WA has a 7.5% unemployment rate, I'm sure we can find someone else who will.Â
@NW-Economist I think a more likely scenario than an armed teacher stopping a school shooter, is an irrational student assaulting the teacher taking their gun and shooting the teacher and possibly some of their classmates.  Why bring a gun to school when the teacher will provide one for you.
@My_Thoughts @NW-EconomistThere's a whole host of excuses you can come up with, and the next time there's a school shooting I'm sure you will join the rest of the idiots shouting for law abiding citizens to have their guns taken away. What you don't understand is that eventually arming teachers will be embraced, the question that people like you have to answer is how much blood is required to change your mind first?
Protect our children, stop offering them up as helpless targets.
@NW-Economist @DrugFighter How is requiring them to get training and carry firearms (which cost hundreds of dollars each) cheaper than an $8 lever on the door? Bear in mind that I am quite pro-firearms and agree that it would be good to have teachers trained in their use. But not all people are able to handle a firearm safely or with confidence, even after thorough training. That has to be taken into account.
@spacegoddessBecause they'd pay for it themselves? If they didn't like that we have a 7.5% unemployment rate.
If any are unfit then I'm sure we can find others who are: 7.5% unemployment rate.Â
"It makes me feel safer because I don't really like when the teacher goes out of the classroom," said fourth grader Lizzie Flink. "It makes me scared like something's going to happen."
Wow! It sounds like this little child is being taught to be fearful from either her parents or the teacher. A normal happy 4th grader shouldn't be worrying about her teacher walking out of the classroom and a tragedy possibly happening. Us parents don't need to be telling our kids every little detail of our society's horrors. Am I saying we should shelter them? NO, however don't lay so much on their little minds and let them be kids because before too long they will have to grow up and really see how crappy our world really is.
I was trying to add another question I had but ran out of time editing.
On the topic of this device, it sounds like a good idea and I wouldn't be opposed to something like that. Does is still allow someone from inside the classroom to be able to open the door quickly and escape if the threat is in that classroom? For instance if a teacher goes off and locks the door trapping the kids inside with them and the kids need to leave or even if another teacher needs to get inside that classroom to help the kids with the threat?@Robinsnest Fire codes require that the door must always be able to be opened from the inside.  The locks only prevent someone from entering the classroom from the outside.
@Robinsnest Good post. I agree. Let them live for a while without knowing how crappy our world really is.
Nice 10$ piece of stamped out metal. I doubt it takes 10 minutes to make that. Standard machine rates are about 60/hr. Looks to be worth about 3$ to me.
@VoiceofReason They are $7.95 not $10.  Stamp out the two metal pieces, deburring?, stamp the logo on the swivel place, fold the end of the mounting bracket, Screw/rivet the two pieces together, apply the double back adhesive to the back of the mounting plate, package the unit.   It doesn't sound like this is something that is produced in the tens to hundreds of thousands that would make automated assembly cost effective.  So not the 1 to 2 dollars worth of time and materials you seem to think producing one would take. Â
Wow $10 each! Seems kinda pricey for a small piece of metal. I guess some people would say "That's a small price to pay for the safety of children...
I call it over-priced crap. It wouldn't stand a chance against a gun. Nor would any of the windows in those classrooms...
@Johnny Fairplay All the device is supposed to do is keep already locked door from closing.  Then when the door needs to be locked in case of a lock down you flip the stop down and the door closes and locks without the anyone having to go into the hall and exposing themselves.  Once the door is locked a shooter would have to shoot the lock and  the bolt out of the door.  Not an easy thing to do with a small caliber rifle or pistol.
The Sandy Hook shooter freely walked into two classrooms and was denied access to at least two other rooms because of locked doors. Â Had he had to shoot his way through every door, I believe many fewer children would have been killed.Â
I'm am not aware of any instance where any shooter has shoot anyone through the windows of a school. Â You start shooting through the windows of a class from the outside and a shooter's chances of killing very many people is quite small because after the first shot everyone would run out in to the hall.
Instead of being negative about this invention think about it this way- this could be extra the 2-3 seconds that make the difference between life and death for someone. yes there are windows they could shoot out and get in that way but that takes extra time, and the more time it takes the better chance the kids have of surviving. I know this won't stop someone who is determined for long but sometimes all you need is a few more seconds before help arrives. I'm glad this guy soent his time to develop this, i hope to see it on the doors of my kids schools asap.
@MomOf2 Thank you for a rational comment! Even a little thing can make a big difference, and a few seconds can make the difference between life and death.
So this device is bullet/psycho proof.....I think not!
What is really going on here? What a joke.
@Magicalwoman You should have watched the demo video and gotten a clue rather than simply exposing your ignorance.
@My_Thoughts @MagicalwomanYou're the one with ignorance if you forgot that classrooms have windows.Â
@My_Thoughts @NW-EconomistYou seem to have little knowledge of firearms
Go lookup what a muzzle break is and how its used to breach doorframes. It may slow someone down 5-6 seconds MAX. And a locked door will only put them even more on guard for when they finally break through.
If a psycho is determined to get into a SPECIFIC Â classroom, like Adam Lanza was, an extra 5-6 seconds won't matter when the police are 5-10 minutes away.Â
@NW-Economist The whole point is to deny a shooter instant access, increasing the possibility they will try another door rather than spend the time breaching that particular door.  Having to breach a door or the shooter going outside to the windows increases the time for first responders to arrive and take down the shooter, whether that responder be police or an armed guard, teacher , or administrator from some other part of the school.
@My_Thoughts @NW-EconomistIt hasn't happened because these aren't in use yet. As soon as the killers can't come in through the door they'll either shoot out the doorframe and bust through or go around to the window. Stop thinking like a surrenderist and think about a proactive defense instead of a passive one.Â
@NW-Economist Would you please cite where anyone was shot through the windows of a classroom during any of the school shootings.  I couldn't find a single instance where a shooter fired into a particular classroom through an outside window.
Yes, you could be shot through a classroom's window, but you could also be struck by a meteorite while in a classroom.  Should we protect students and teachers from that also?Â
"school lockdowns", as if it's an every day thing. What a sad sad statement about our society.
@Bellevue Scott We used to 'duck and cover' just in case there was a nuclear weapon being detonated nearby. Kids today have it easy.
@Bellevue Scott You would be horrified to know how many times schools do go into lockdown. It is very disconcerting. Normally it's a precaution ie: police activity in the area.
@justmyopinion @Bellevue Scott Even twelve to fourteen years ago when I was around middle-school age, we went into lock-down at least two or three times a year (escaped convict ran through campus and hid nearby; gunshots fired at a neighboring house; threats called into the school by stupid kids...). It's quite sadly common and has been for some time.
So it works like a regular door bolt? Revolutionary!
@therunner No, it is NOT like a regular door bolt, it merely keeps the door from closing all the way.
@Furd @therunner Correcto mundo. The latch is always locked. Flip the device and the door can close all the way and the locked latch engages. Ingenious!
Now we're headed in the right direction!Â
Simple device could be key to survival in school lockdowns .. YEAH its called a firearm.
what this guy is advertising won't stop a motivated psycho.
@everyoneelse But it could significantly slow him or her down, deducing the numbers of victims.
@everyoneelse Oh yeah, that'll work since a lot of schools allow firearms.
@Zoso @everyoneelseSome states do, and they don't have mass shootings, I wonder why. Don't trouble Zoso with facts though, that's "unfair."Â
@NW-Economist Wow, you know about facts? Yeah, good point since people who have been here long enough know that they can take Economists endless ranting post seriously.
If they're going to "showcase" a product I think they should have tried a little harder to explain exactly how it works.Â
@Grunged I wondered at first how it worked but then realized it is thus: The outside knob is left always locked and the silly little flip metal simply prevents the door from closing far enough for the latch to click. Not much different than just sticking a rolled up newspaper between the door and the jamb.
More surrenderist mentality, keep thinking you can just cower behind defenses and let killers come as they please to a Sacrifice Zone. Get rid of "gun free zones" and psychos will stop coming to them looking for easy prey.Â
This reminds me of the stupidity of the Maginot Line.
@NW-Economist Your analogy is flawed.  The attacking forces did an end around on the Maginot Line.  Tough to do an end around on a locked door to a class room.
@My_Thoughts @NW-EconomistYour logic is flaws.
Ever heard of a large glass object called a window? If a psycho wants in to a classroom they do an "end run" around the door and smash/shoot/break/open this very large and fragile glass sheet called a "window!"
Only difference is by then they'll be even more angry and also cautious, which means you lose a lot of surprise attack capability against them.Â
I think what they failed to realize is that there are large windows on their doors and to the sides of them that someone could just bust or shoot out and gain access to the room. Isn't that how the Sandy Hook shooter entered the school?
And what happened to door knobs that have locks built in that you can lock from the inside?
@HuskyKMA Building codes require the use of "panic hardware" (push to open bars) on public egress doors. It is not a simple matter to have an inside turn button to lock the outer knob.
I see one possible problem scenario with the use of this device.  Any one wishing to assault a teacher or student alone in a classroom could walk in flip the device which would allow the door to close and lock, preventing outside entry to any one with out a key, allowing the aggressor to assault the person while knowing outside help is going to be delayed.
An unlikely scenario, but still something to be considered. Â
Nice work!