With yet another deadly school shooting making headlines in the United States, one company is looking to make sure schools are prepared for the unthinkable.
SSI Guardian President Michael Yorio said his company is trying to "change the narrative" in school shootings by giving schools the tools to prevent violence and protect themselves if one does happen.
And in the event that another violent shooting does happen, he hopes to provide the tools to save as many victims as possible.
"In order to do a safe, effective lockdown, you have to have the right equipment," he said.
Yorio travels the country talking to teachers and administrators about how to lock down their schools.
"It's trying to prevent and mitigate these events from ever taking place," he said.
He said all rooms need to have deadbolts that lock immediately in case of an emergency and blackout shades that prevent the shooter from seeing in.
"In the Parkland shooting, we have reports that the gunman shot through that glass that was not covered up," Yorio said.
He also stocks the rooms with serious first aid kits that can give aid to a gunshot victim.
"Having the stop-the-bleed response kits inside of that room so that a student or a teacher can save another person's life if need be - but only if they have the right equipment," Yorio said.
He said the conversation about security has become too political and unhelpful when it comes to protecting kids. He added that there are a lot of good ideas out there but he doesn't think guns in the classroom is one of them.
"Arming teachers? Absolutely not," he said. "More harm than good can come of that. You're placing an inherent threat in the schools."
In fact, he doesn't think guns in the schools will go very far in protecting kids at all.
"There was an armed guard at that high school," Yorio said. "It didn't prevent 17 people from dying."
He said the focus should be on training teachers and administrators how to spot a threat in the first place and then giving teachers the tools they need to protect their kids.
"There are things at our disposal that we know work," he said.
SSI Guardian has given away six of these classrooms in the Atlanta area over the past year. They typically come with a hefty $25,000 price tag. But much of that goes to new classroom furniture and technology updates. The security aspect is just part of the cost.
