A handbook given to students each year explains the regulations and informs them and their parents about security issues on the campus. Knives, guns and drugs are strictly forbidden on the campus. Children are even told not to use threatening words. Anyone who breaks the rules in a public school faces suspension or even expulsion. And if a student is expelled, he or she may not get admission in another public school. It means his/her parents have to pay a lot more money to admit him/her to a private school - provided a private school accepts him/her as a student.

Schools authorities are responsible for keeping outsiders away from their campuses. As long as students are in a school, outsiders are not allowed to visit the school building without prior permission. If an outsider needs to enter the campus during school hours he/she has to show his identification and explain convincingly the reason for his visit. To monitor the movements of people and provide extra safety to students and teachers, close-circuit cameras have been mounted at vantage points of school buildings.

Schools are responsible for training students on how to react to an emergency. For example, if there is an intruder on the campus, students are informed through a "code red" announcement, after which teachers lock the doors of their classrooms to keep the children safe.

School bus drivers and parents, too, have their responsibilities. Security guards, flaunting their yellow vests, keep vigil around schools, manage traffic and help students cross the streets. And cameras record the movement of cars during this period.

A driver violating the rules during this period usually gets a harsher punishment. If a security guard sees any student violating the rules, he/she informs the principal and the students' parents.

Several years ago, we got a warning from the principal of our daughter's school because, while riding her bicycle, she had broken the speed limit. After classes, bus drivers drop students at designated stops only. Students cannot get off the bus according to their whims.

School authorities in China need to formulate regulations, educate the people and spell out the responsibilities of every related individual if they want to have a foolproof safety system in place. To ensure security on campuses, every teacher, student, parent/guardian, school staff and related official have to perform their duties properly and the entire community has to come to their help.

The author is a Chinese scientist and essayist based in the US.