We see it all around us. When there’s a loud noise in the hallway – a heavy object drops, a locker slams – students tense, even for just a moment.
Anything could be a gunshot if that’s what’s on your mind. With what’s happened this year, it’s easy to see why.
When I was a freshman, school shootings were a theoretical event. They were just news articles; horror stories on social media, things that happened to people I didn’t know in places I’d never been. Now, when I read news stories about school shootings, I see my own face – my friends’ faces, my brother’s face – in them. When my mom hears sirens on our street, she instantly imagines the worst-case scenario. It already happened in our library. When will it happen in our school?
At The Shakerite, we’ve covered these events the day they’ve happened. We’ve written breaking news, and we’ve composed editorials in their aftermath. All year, we have begged for more effective and consistent security. But at the end of the day, words won’t make a difference unless the right people read them and react. We need administration to take action now to protect us.
Anyone can tell you that our security system has holes – too many to count. Too many students have described to me how easy it would be to sneak a weapon through the system. Weapons detection varies drastically depending on which entrance you go through, which teacher or security guard checks your bag, and what time of day you arrive. Some days, security guards will shake my binder and rifle through the smallest pockets on my bag. Other days, they just pass my bin along with a glance. Sometimes when I arrive late, security monitors are scrolling on their phones and barely look up when I walk in. Even police officers are on their phones during the school day. Once, a student on senior project told me that they walked into the high school in the middle of the day without passing through any security. Doors are left propped open with no one watching them.
Security needs to be standardized and consistent across the board. It’s safer, but also more equitable to students. All security guards should check bins and backpacks in the exact same way. You should never have a different experience with security day to day.
This doesn’t just apply to the high school. Weapons detection has become an everyday fact of life. I don’t want to be worried about my brother at the middle school, or about going to the library after school. I shouldn’t be worried about entering any public space. But I am – it’s a thought that constantly crosses my mind.
We can’t keep writing editorials about school safety. Our school doesn’t need to be reduced to a disturbing news story. Fix it now, or wait and see what happens.
A version of this editor’s note appears in print on page 2 of Volume 95, Issue 5, published May 27, 2025.
