Tuesday's events at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., have students and parents across the country wondering, what if it happened here?

In Warsaw, crisis teams at each school building have worked with the Warsaw Police Department on assessing safety procedures, school superintendent Dr. Lee Harman said Tuesday.

Security measures, including locking all doors in schools except the door nearest each office, and identifying visitors with badges, have been instituted in Warsaw schools.

"We are and we have been doing what we think we can do to prepare ourselves and to keep our kids safe," Harman said.

Paul Crousore, principal of Warsaw Community High School, said the school has general guidelines to follow but it is impossible to develop plans to deal with every crisis that may occur.

He also said the school administration treats every threatening rumor seriously and investigates it thoroughly.

"If there's even a remote indication or a rumor related to these kinds of incidents, you follow them up," he said. "We follow each and every one of them through as if there is the potential for them to be reality."

Mark Stock, Wawasee Schools superintendent, said the Wawasee School Corp. is working on an extensive crisis plan, due on his desk by June.

The plan will cover everything from chemical spills to hostages. Local police will be involved in the planning, Stock said.

Wawasee High School Principal Alan Frank said, "We have a plan, but honestly, I don't know how you can prepare for every circumstance."

Larry Stoner, principal of Whitko High School, said the school has emergency procedures in place and they are discussed and updated frequently.

The school also has experts come in occasionally to talk to the staff about crisis intervention, he said.

Charles Mills, Tippecanoe Valley High School principal, said, "First of all, we have attempted to secure the building as far as doors being locked."

He said last year, the high school had a camera system installed in every hall.

"That really has been an aid to know what's going on in the building. I can't be everywhere at one time," he said.

When an emergency situation occurs, Mills said, police are called to handle the situation.

"There's so many aspects to this kind of thing - the time of day, if students were in their classes. We'd try to isolate the incident," he said.

Stoner and Harman said that, unfortunately, students become upset and don't know how to take out their frustrations.

"We suspend and expel students at this high school just like everywhere else, and you don't know what they're upset at," Stoner said.

"I think the potential (for it happening) here is the same as it is anywhere, we're just a smaller school," Stock said.

One reason students may be acting out with more violence, Stock said, is that students are fed a steady stream of violence through the media and Hollywood. But, he said, if parents love their children and let them know they are loved, then the chances for their child acting out violently will lessen.

Mills said in the coming weeks security will be stepped up but it's not because of the Colorado shooting. Instead, he said, during prom and graduation time, there are more student pranks so the school increases security to prevent anyone getting hurt.

As for his comments to parents, Mills said, "The experience is that teachers are in the hallway observing. They know what's going on in the halls."

He also said doors are secure and all visitors are expected to go straight to the office.

Still, many administrators say there is little to do in the way of predicting or preventing students who may attack other students.

"The way this situation (in Littleton) is described, short of having armed guards at every doorway," there's no way to prevent such an incident, Harman said. "You just pray that your community is not touched this way."

Stoner encouraged parents to talk to their children about the incident in Colorado.

"Be realistic and talk about these kinds of things," he said. "Don't dwell on it, but we need to live in the real world."

Most administrators said teachers and counselors will probably talk to students about the Colorado incident in school today.

"It's pretty frustrating," Harman said. "We're seeing what should be a sacred place for kids turn into something else." [[In-content Ad]]