School Lockdown: Input Please! [View All]

[Ithuilwen]

All right, I'm posting this in hopes that the awesome power of collective DU brainstorming will help generate some helpful ideas. Anything you have to contribute is very much appreciated!

(disclaimer: This account is somewhat biased from my perspective and probably isn't all that objective.)

Yesterday morning, the principal at my high school informed the student body that a lockdown of sorts will be instated starting Monday. From fifteen minutes past the start of school onward, some sets of doors will be locked to people outside. He also told us that security cameras are going to be installed at various places throughout the school. It seems he's talked with safety officials (PD, FD) who said some safety measures really ought to be taken, and that he'd be in a very bad position if none were taken and something tragic happened.

I'm sure some of you reading this are wondering, "What the heck is this girl's problem? Most schools have their doors locked, security cameras, and metal dectectors to boot!" Yes, well, my response is, "You'd probably have some problems with this, too, if you knew what I know."

I go to school in a high school of approximately 800 kids. In Maine. We have never had a school shooting (there have been no school shootings anywhere in Maine, as far as I know). I don't think we've had a single bomb threat. A minor scuffle breaks out in school maybe three times a year. We have that "small-town" sort of atmosphere, with no rigidly delinineate cliques -- socializing groups are pretty amorphous -- so it is far less likely (not impossible, I know) that a kid can go through school feeling so utterly alienated that he/she feels the need to kill fellow students and teachers. Seriously folks, I have a feeling there are quite a few schools that would be envious of our situation.

Maybe it isn't the greatest idea to give specifics on the school setup, in case some psycho decides to read this. Just know this: the school is set up in such a way that kids regularly go outside of the school and enter it again in order to switch between classes quickly or to get to others. It is almost impossible to walk from one part of the school to another within the allotted passing time unless one does this (and of course, absolutely impossible to stay inside the school if one takes certain classes). The doors that are being locked are the ones that are used by students. We have been told that if we want to still use them, we'll probably be able to get back in if someone else is coming out. We have also been told that if we're found banging on the door to be let in, we'll be issued detentions.

Most of the school is in an uproar over this, primarily because a good percentage of the kids view this as a complete crock of crap. Not only does this new policy interfere with the normal functioning of the school (getting from class to class), it doesn't seem to be in the least bit practical. There are many, many sets of doors being left unlocked as they always have been (not just ones near a main office like one would naturally expect). Since we are such a laidback school, the idea that we have to instate security measures hit us like a freight train. All day yesterday, kids were asking each other if they had ever thought about the fact that we were "unsafe" because we didn't have our doors locked. And to be honest, most kids were pretty fatalistic, saying that if someone was so inclined to massacre us, nothing would stop that individual (and indeed, that person would in all likelihood already be inside the school).

Ultimately, my beef with this whole situation is this: 1) security cameras and locked doors do nothing to protect me from someone who really wants to kill me; 2) locked doors make it terribly inconvenient to function efficiently as a student given my school's setup; 3) this was sprung on me and the rest of my classmates without warning or any way to have our two cents heard; 4) I feel strongly that this is simply a superficial safety measure imposed to just make it look as though steps are being taken (yes, an extremely biased and perhaps untrue view); 5) I take issue with the idea of security cameras from a civil liberties standpoint. (The last two points are not ones I would use to publicly argue against this new policy, I just thought I'd further illustrate my beliefs to all you DUers.)

I went to my principal yesterday to arrange for a forum for kids to get together after school next week and discuss this issue. I really like our principal -- he's a great guy and tries awfully hard -- and I had no doubt that he'd agree (which he did). Since our student council really only serves as a spirit organization, I wanted to give students an opportunity to have their voices heard directly. Most kids in my school are apathetic when it come to just about everything, even things that directly affect them, but I saw so much energy and anger that I thought it would be best to harness this to put toward the crafting of some creative, practical, effective solutions (temporary and long-term). I respect the fact that something has to be done to increase the security of our school (and indeed, I don't really have a say in the matter as something IS being done Monday), but I and many other students feel that the current policy is not the way to do it.

What do you think? What suggestions do you have? Anyone faced a similar situation at his/her own school? Thanks in advance!

*edited for clarity