High Schoolers across the country are aware of the school shootings that plague our country. As schools are forced to create new security protocols and practice lockdowns every month, students understand the danger that could be around the corner.
Desert Mountain began to install more strict procedures after the mass shootings last year. But are these procedures really protecting the students of DM?
After speaking with several students there was a common theme in these interviews that the locked door policy is “pointless,” as Logan Comer (12) said. Another student came up with a good point: “they lock up doors during lockdown anyway,” said Andrea Ciotinga (12).
In response to this the head of security for the district, Joshua Friedman says, “studies have shown that the average person can complete between 3 to 5 fine motor skill tasks.” He explains, “The locked door gives people who are in high-stress situations the ability to complete more tasks.”
One of the other issues with this locked door policy is the ability to go to the bathroom in class. Now it may seem like a small price to pay for students’ safety but to most teachers, it is deemed distracting to have someone knocking on their door every 5 minutes.
It also isn’t very secure as the majority of the time teachers don’t even check who’s knocking. Ciotinga touched on this in her interview and said, “teachers still open the doors to see who it is, so it’s pointless.” Again the word pointless comes up in conversation.
Friedman says, “Security is an inconvenience, but it is a lifesaving one.” Of course, I agree with this statement but there are still flaws with this new procedure.
Some teachers have grown so tired of the constant interruptions they either stopped locking the door or have the student prop it open when they leave. Propping the door open seems to be a better solution as the door is already locked and if the alarm is to sound they just need to move the door stopper, it’s also less distracting. But that’s still a security risk as the shooter would just look for a door propped open. If more and more schools are going to use this policy they need to have students check who’s at the door.
Dr. Hirsh says that “This is a long-term safety measure and as with all measures, there is an evolution process.”
However, in order to start this evolution process there has to be more of a discussion around school safety. Saying the word school shooter is a taboo word, but they exist even in safe neighborhoods. Politicians every time more students get shot in schools yell for gun control and to help the mental well-being of teenagers, but they don’t take any action. So there should be more discussions with students in school to see their thoughts on this matter since their lives are at stake too.
As Friedman says, “school safety starts with you.”
