I read with interest and some dismay the article about new security measures being taken to protect students at Varndean School, from where I graduated in 1968.

One statement, attributed to Eric Spear -"We don't want armed guards on the gates like they have in America" - conjures up a very misleading view of schools in the United States, where I have lived since 1978.

The statement provides a rather Hollywood-esque view of the situation here. We do have a policeman or two assigned to most schools and here, as in Europe, they are armed as a matter of course.

But in most schools - certainly those outside the more well-known problem areas in some cities - they are not standing at the gates with weapons at the ready. Most of the time they are on much-needed traffic duty, making sure that motorists (the public, students and teachers) driving within the school zone do not exceed the posted 20mph speed limit.

-Philip Allsopp, Dallas, Texas, US