For the past several years, walking into Boerne High School every day has been anything but routine, almost always put me and my classmates on edge.
After the 2022 shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde — just two hours from Boerne — students were required to show their student IDs before entering campus.
When presenting it to our school resource officers and administrators, I couldn’t help but feel a heavier weight than just a piece of plastic with my name on it; it was a reminder that, any given day, it might later be used to identify my body.
The horrors of Uvalde burst the bubble of safety that me and many of my classmates thought we had on campus. Many students feel worn down by the daily anxieties around safety and militarization of our schools, which has understandably taken a toll on mental health.
I know we’re not alone, as studies have shown that exposure to school shootings leads to a lasting rise in youth antidepressant use.
With the ominous potential of another such “headline” shaking our community, and the continuous reminder of the mere possibility of not coming home, I began researching school safety and the complex challenges that come with it.
One pattern stood out across every tragic incident: the problem of time – or rather, the lack of it.
According to the FBI, it takes police an average of three minutes to respond to an active shooter, yet it’s within the first two minutes that the most lives are lost. This critical gap doesn’t just create chaos, it exposes a hard truth: no matter how welltrained, humans simply can’t be everywhere at once.
Throughout active shooter situations, there is often a lack of situational awareness and communication. Many police officers arrive on the scene without any idea as to where a shooter is, or if a shooter is still in the building. A lack of a blanketed response and miscommunication can mean missed opportunities and lives lost.
Texas schools need an innovative and dynamic solution to ensure no more lives are lost.
That’s why I was encouraged when I was introduced to an Austin-based startup, Campus Guardian Angel, which partnered with Boerne ISD law enforcement to conduct a live demonstration of their dronebased school safety system at my high school.
They brought in remotely piloted drones to showcase cutting- edge technology designed to stop active shooters in real time.
When I first heard about it, I was skeptical — it sounded like something out of science fiction. But that changed the moment I was chosen to participate in the simulation.
I witnessed firsthand how quickly and precisely the drones could sweep through hallways, locate threats, alert law enforcement, and buy officers critical time needed to arrive on scene.
After that demonstration, everything changed for me. I realized that the critical gaps, like lost time and lack of situational awareness, weren’t unsolvable.
I can’t help but wonder: how many lives could have been saved if this technology had been in place. These drones deploy in just 15 seconds, each second absolutely critical when lives hang in the balance.
I know that some students are still skeptical, and I understand. We’ve grown up with technology forced upon us our entire lives. Yet, this technology is different; it’s not distracting or destructive, and is not here to replace our SROs or police officers. It is here to help them have every advantage in an emergency situation like a school shooting.
As I take the next step in my academic career, I’m grateful to know that our district’s head of safety and security, Chief Rick Goodrich, is already taking proactive steps to test the application of this technology right here in Boerne. As a military veteran and a parent, his leadership sends a powerful message: we’re not turning a blind eye to the threat, we’re confronting it head-on.
Texas students shouldn’t have to think about dying when they show their ID. I believe that innovative, proactive solutions like Campus Guardian Angel can change that. They can take the weight of fear off our shoulders and give us back what every student deserves: the peace of mind we deserve to feel safe and focus on learning.
Teagn Maquet is a recent Boerne High School graduate and an incoming freshman at the University of Alabama.
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