How annoying! It is the first week back to school and you are already getting into trouble for not having an ID hanging in your car window. These little warning sticky notes we get. Wasn’t it hilarious when someone took them all and covered one car in notes? They’re just nuisances. Who cares if we don’t read them?
Imagine: you are sitting in a classroom, mentally preparing for a trip to the vending machines during Activities in the next period when overhead you hear a computer-generated voice saying there is an exterior lockdown. What is your first reaction? Do you rejoice because this means missing 15 minutes of a lecture? Do you sit and talk with your teachers about crazy scenarios in which you defeat an intruder and save the school? Surely, you do not panic. Most of us don’t during the occasional security scare.
But here’s the thing: Academy has not yet invested your tuition dollars in a force field. We are not untouchable. It may seem unlikely that there is ever a dangerous person inside our school, but if that happens, we most likely will not be prepared.
School security is taking more measures nationwide to protect students and teachers. Academy is no exception. It may seem more annoying than helpful that all cars on campus must be registered and that certain doors are locked during school hours, but these precautions are taken to benefit those of us that spend seven hours a day at Academy. It is quite the luxury that students feel comfortable leaving car keys and laptops around the hallways; none of us eve consider the possibility of theft. The school does well ensuring our sense of security on campus.
This is mostly a good thing, but there are times when more urgency and seriousness are necessary. When the police force the school into a lockdown, there is a real threat near our campus. Yet some teachers feel it is okay to turn off the lights and keep teaching. They do not wait for more information about this potential threat or silence the class. If they talk about the situation at all, it is to discuss fantasy scenarios about how they would fend off the intruder and save the class. While these lighthearted conversations can be calming and sometimes reassuring in the face of danger, they are not going to help prepare students for a security scare.
Teachers should be very direct in telling students the emergency plan and realistic ways to fight an intruder if the emergency reaches that point. These lockdowns are not bonding time or an occasion to skirt protocol and continue teaching class. They are potentially life-threatening situations and should be taken more seriously, especially by teachers, to help protect all of those in the Academy community.
