Update on Paschal Security

Mia Abbe, News Editor

On April 20th, 1999, our nation was exposed to the terror of school shootings.  The tragedy at Columbine High School claimed fifteen lives, and that was just the beginning.  There have been numerous school shootings in the past two decades, most recently, school shootings in Santa Fe, Texas and Parkland, Florida, which claimed 27 lives.  Since these tragedies occured, a spotlight has been placed on school safety.

As a result, Paschal has amped up security features.

“I have noticed a little increase in security.  They’ve locked the doors of the school during the school day.” Senior Grace Yeo said.

“I’ve noticed more security scans pulling kids out of classes,” Sophomore Ethan Johnson said.

But do these measures do their job?

“No,” Sophomore Sam Ferguson said.  “For example, the buttons used to talk to someone that will open the door for you are ineffective.  The person talking to you cannot see what you look like or if you have a weapon on your person or not.”

“I think these measures are sufficient in making us feel safe, but there are still many ways someone who wanted to do bad stuff to kids could get in,” Johnson said.  “With all this national conversation about gun violence and loose gun laws in Texas I don’t really feel safe.”

In a Patherette poll taken earlier this year, 33 students thought that enforcing an ID policy would make Paschal safer.  64 students thought that increasing security would make Paschal safer. Only 2 students believed that minimizing hall passes would make Paschal a safer place.

When asked what they thought would make Paschal a safer place, students shared similar ideas.

“Maybe like a scanner for student IDs to get into the building,” Ferguson said.

“If student IDs were able to unlock the doors then other students wouldn’t assume that people need to be let into the building,”  Yeo said.

While an ID scanner might increase security, it would be extremely expensive and inconvenient for the poor students who left their IDs at home.

“I would feel safer if the district made us feel safer by publicly and quickly addressing threats then I would feel better,” Johnson said.

Now that the year is closing, Paschal should consider whether the security measures they have implemented are really doing their job, and whether students feel safe in their school. займ на карту срочно без отказа оформить займ через контактэкспресс займ в санкт петербургезайм срочно по паспорту частный займ под расписку москвазайм vivusзайм у частного лица онлайн