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Increased protection may provide solution
Beefed up security not always better by Sam holder
by jenni rogan
I’m as much of a fan of Grady’s security as the next student. I hate waiting in the long line, especially on those chilly mornings. I become irritated after hearing the obnoxious buzzing from the metal detector for far too long. The administration gives us extra time to get to class, but if we had more effective security, we wouldn’t need that extra time. The security at Grady, no matter how useless it may seem, makes our school safe. Even though the new security may be helping, with the new possible Georgia gun laws, new measures must be taken for the 2013-2014 school year. APS Superintendant Erroll Davis, said “Schools were designed to be places of learning ... not designed to be a fortress” and I agree. Grady is a meant to be open so students feel inclined to learn, but it’s also meant to be a place that is safe for students to learn. If we are worrying about someone bringing a gun to school, or unauthorized people making their way onto campus, learning may be compromised. Also, if students can get into a number of the buildings without going through security, we shouldn’t get rid of the security, we should get more of it. My first period class on A days is Latin, in the trailers. I usually arrive to school right at 8:15 a.m. and I head straight to class. The only time I ever went through the cafeteria was Feb. 28, the day after the shooting. I assumed there would be someone at the top of the staircase near the gym guiding people towards the cafeteria. When I got there, there was not a single adult around watching the area. Assigning a security guard, or even a teacher who doesn’t have a first period, to watch the entrance to the trailers and gym would help. The second student parking lot (or the dirt lot as some call it) also increases the number of students in the area surrounding the trailers. Most of these students make their way to the cafeteria eventually, but a teacher reminder to go to the cafeteria first would help make mornings smoother and more secure. If all students were required to work their way through the cafeteria in the morning, a third metal detector would help conduct the searches more efficiently. Even after changing the start time of the school, Grady will not be able to keep both its promises that “school starts at 8:30 a.m.” and that “everyone must go through the metal detectors” if there are only two metal detectors for almost 1,500 students to walk through. In APS’s security budget, a third metal detector should be close to the top of the list. Finally, teachers need to be able to look through bags more thoroughly. There have been more days than I can count on my fingers and toes where the teacher checking bags passed mine from one end of the table to the other without searching it. Grady probably has new security plans in the works. Security needs to be efficient, yet thorough. If, however, Grady is not able to put money into making security better, which seems to be the current situation, Grady should at least try to improve upon what it has by spreading its current resources (security guards and JROTC sergeants) and educating teachers and administrators about what they are looking for in student bags. p
e h T
April 17, 2013
In the aftermath of the accidental shooting, Grady administration has increased security. So far, the administration has implemented security practices that have been available all along. While this seems like a reasonable response, it is not as clear-cut an issue as the administration would have you believe. First, the shooting could have happened at any school. The barest facts state that a girl arrived late to school, and while in the courtyard, shot herself in the leg. Sure, this is an awful situation and the school has to address the issue of students bringing guns to school, but the school administration is going about it in the wrong way. The school’s immediate response was to reinstitute the metal detector searches. Hypothetically, this means that every morning, all of the students are funneled through two entrances, and are corralled in front of a metal detector. Besides the most noticeable problem that almost all students are now late to first period, there are a few more subtle problems. In the debate following the shooting incident, many students wondered why the school-assigned police officers are not searching our bags. Police don’t search our bags because the search of bags without just cause would violate our fourth amendment rights. Instead, administrators and teachers search our bags. Yet in the student handbook, the school administration cannot search us without probable cause. In order to bypass the school’s own policies, the school is searching everyone. They feel that they are legally able to do so by applying the laws that justify the searching of people entering courthouses and airports. If there were to be a court case testing the legality of this, it would probably go in the school’s favor. Nevertheless, until such a ruling, the school is not legally justified in applying this method of searching. There is another problem with the metal-detector method. What sets up a better time for a mass shooting then if all of the students are standing in a neat row in front of the school? Let’s assume that a student brought a gun to school and after an efficient and effective search, the teacher assigned to metal detector duty found it; what would the teacher do next? Teachers do not have adequate training to handle such a situation. To top it off, students would not need to bring the gun inside. They could wait until a later period or lunch, go out to their car and get their gun. There should not be more security at Grady High School because of the recent event. If there were to be any changes, there should be better security. What the school needs is cameras that can tell us who stole the basketball team’s stuff from the locker-room while they were playing. If the administration were to crack down on loitering in the hallways during class or do a better job of preventing skipping, maybe they could inadvertently prevent future crimes. We need to remember that we go to a school, not a prison. Instead of the metal detectors, we should go back to entering school the way it was and stop wasting everyone’s time. p
STUDENT
Stance
Does increased security provide adequate protection for Grady?
Rec games wrecks schedules, unfair to athletic kids A couple of weeks ago, my homeroom received those cute, pink folders that signified the time had finally come for us to pick our schedules for senior year. I had my whole year planned out: a few Advanced Placement classes, musical theater and a period or two for The Southerner, of course. Unfortunately, when I began Alex Wolfe to check off all my favored classes, I realized I would be unable to take AP Economics concurrently with the rest of my preferred classes due to the torturous ordeal known as rec games. Properly labeled as recreational games, the course counts for a half credit that must be gained in order to graduate, unless you have played two years of a varsity sport, JROTC or marching band. On the surface this seems like a very reasonable policy for exemption, but what about students who participate in a junior varsity sport? Or people like me who
are active, but are not engaged in a Grady sport? Are they still required to take the course? The answer to that, sadly, is yes. The official Grady website describes rec games as a course that “introduces recreational games suitable for lifetime leisure activities.” Not only are JV athletes in an adequate physical state to be able to take part in any type of recreational game, but most students in general are healthy and fit enough to partake in “leisure activities.” I mean, come on–it has the word leisure in its description! I compared the number of hours in which the varsity and JV soccer teams practice and compete. Both teams practice for about two hours a day and between four and five days a week, plus any games in which they compete. The regular season lasts about 11 weeks, and after that point, the varsity soccer team goes on to compete in a regional tournament, which lasts for an indeterminate length, depending on how well the team does. Overall, both teams are active for about 100 hours or so during the regular season, while the varsity team practices for maybe another 15 to 25 hours.
That doesn’t seem like a big difference, especially when you consider the fact that students in rec games only have the class for about 65 hours over the course of the semester. Additionally, students who compete on a team are likely to be more committed to their sport than anyone who is forced to take a mandatory course in which they have no interest. I take advanced dance classes on a regular basis, and I am active for about 10 hours a week, not just for one sports season, but for the majority of the school year. My dance classes are not involved with Grady sports, though, making my 250plus hours of activity each year worthless in the eyes of APS. Plenty of students participate in activities unrelated to Grady, including gymnastics, fencing and karate. Should we be penalized for having interests outside the realm of what Grady has to offer? I think not. As I completed my scheduling form all I could do was sigh and move on; AP Econ would have to take a backseat to my required recreational period. And until the rule is changed others will have to suffer the same fate. p