Capital High school has a lot going on, and one of those things aside from teaching is an increase in security around the school. All of the students and admin have noticed in some way shape or form. What are the reason and needs for the sudden increase? Let us see what two students and one member of admin think.

The increase in security can be seen as in correlation with the recent uptick of school shootings around the United States and is most likely why the increase is happening. Capital has even seen its fair share of this situation with a student bringing a gun to school during the 2021-2022 school year but with no shooting happening. But now for the 2022-2023 school year the capital has taken action with higher security. One example of this includes higher accountability of where students are with the introduction of fix-it tickets and security going around the parking lot in carts to ensure nobody leaves campus during lunch. Another example is the locking of all exterior doors around the school and to enter you have to use a buzz-in and out system to get into the school controlled from the offices.

With all of this happening it is getting mixed reactions from students and staff some like the new changes and some are more unsure. One example of someone liking the changes in higher security was Dylan Baker (student) who said “It makes me feel safer, that this year that everything is locked up and not open, and you can’t just walk in.” when asked about the benefits of the new security. He also said “Nothing, it is fine right now.” when asked if there should be changes to the security.

But other students like Sonja Ison (student) say that “We need some security for the safety of students but it needs to be more relaxed.” when asked what should change about the security. But overall the feeling is that students and staff feel safer with the higher level of security, and makes it harder to cause mass shootings like Mr. Chamberlain (Admin) talked about the benefits of the higher level of security. “The higher level of security at the school definitely makes it harder for someone with bad intentions to carry out their plans. For instance, if you look at what happened at Uvalde, the shooter entered through a side door. Having higher security is in no way a guarantee of everyone’s safety, but it makes it much harder for a mass casualty situation to occur.”

But to look over all the security is it really enough to help stop school shootings at this school? And how far should we go to protect students and keep them safe while giving them the freedom that all teenagers desire?