You Will Understand Why This High School Banned Backpacks
As a parent of a school-age child no news stories give me chills and have me hyper-ventilating like the ones about horrible things happening in schools. Shootings, bombings and stabbings seem to dominate headlines these days and of course, schools are on their toes doing everything in their power to keep their students safe. That is why I am not surprised and am actually impressed by the news that a Long Island high school is taking extreme measures to ensure the safety of their students and faculty.
According to The Daily Beast, after a series of bomb threats, the school has banned backpacks and is forcing students to carry their books around in clear plastic bags. They are also prohibited from having access to their lockers for the rest of the school year and all but one restroom had been closed off until recently when they opened one more for each gender. They are trying to set up the bathrooms so they can be better monitored.
As horrifying as this is we all have to accept it as reality- the statistics may not suggest that there are more issues of violence in our schools than there were a generation ago but the news moves quickly these days and parents hear about situations from schools all over the country. They want to know what is being done to keep their children safe in the wake of these threats. The schools have to react to assuage the parent’s concerns and also, to be sure they have done everything possible to avoid these things happening. I know that since Sandy Hook, my daughter’s elementary school has gone as far as to completely reconstruct the entrance so that anyone coming through the door has to stop in the office before being allowed to go any further. There were always cameras in place anyway and they’ve used the V-Raptor ID scanning software for a few years already but I will admit- these measures do make me feel a lot more confident sending my child to school. I know that a determined and unstable person can probably make their way through somehow anyway but with these safeguards in place I like to think that it is much less likely to occur.
As sad as I find it that this is the way things are for our children I do think it’s important that we all embrace and understand the measures that schools take to keep their students safe. The alternative of something happening and then everyone wondering why more safeguards were not in place is just too horrible to think about.
(photo: design56/ Shutterstock)
