NJ State Law Could Go Federal

School safety has been a very relevant topic in a lot of our lives over the past couple of years. With recent incidents such as tragic school shootings and other threats of security, citizens across the country are on the edges of their seats waiting to see if the government will step up to improve school safety.

Back in February, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy took a step in the right direction, signing a law called “Alyssa’s Law”. This law requires all public schools in the state of New Jersey to install silent alarms in classrooms. These alarms, essentially panic buttons, would be in easily-accessible areas for teachers and students to be able to press in the event of an emergency. These buttons would immediately contact law enforcement officials.

“Alyssa’s Law” got its name from Parkland shooting victim Alyssa Alhadeff, a former resident of New Jersey. Alyssa was one of the too many students who died during this tragedy.

Now, there’s a possibility that Alyssa’s Law could go federal. The School Violence Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2019 is working to provide funding to make schools safer and more secure. This bill would also require that Alyssa’s Law becomes federally mandated, as it is currently exclusive to the state of New Jersey. In an interview about the subject, Alyssa’s mother Lori said, "This means the world to us to be able to honor Alyssa, but also to get these panic buttons in every school in the country, where if a threat happens, a teacher can push a button and get law enforcement on the scene as quickly as possible to take down the threat,".

We’re certainly happy to see that the far-too-common issue of school safety is getting much-needed attention, especially on a federal level.