Imagine you get to school on time and you find a huge line that delays you 20 minutes to make it to your first class just to pass through some metal detectors that beep at every single student that passes through, just to not get checked. Now imagine that happens every day during every type of weather: either warm, cold, snowy, or rainy, all this just for people to still sneak stuff inside the building.
In the academic year 2023-2024, metal detectors and clear bag packs were implemented at ERHS to prevent violent incidents and avoid people sneaking stuff in school, but most students feel like they don’t really help and they’re just a waste of time.
This happens every day at ERHS alongside other security issues like people sneaking inside the building to avoid these metal detectors, security not doing their job properly, and rude security staff. “All these issues affect students every day and make them feel like they take up their time and want to get back home,” stated an anonymous Junior student from ERHS.
Students also complain multiple times about being late to their first period class. Christopher Angel, a Junior student from ERHS stated “I show up late to first period and miss class time, I feel annoyed that they check and don’t do anything about it” “If you hide stuff inside your bag you could get away easily, security don’t really check our stuff, and the boys bathroom smells” suspicious “occasionally.”
Another security measure is clear backpacks. These have been implemented and have been around since the year 2023. The point of these bags is so the security staff will see whatever is in your bag, but this can be found inconvenient for students due to the material these bags are made of. Christopher, alongside many other students have complained about how they’re made cheap and don’t last even a whole academic year. The straps break and the bottom rips off easily. This makes students spend money on new bags that will last about a month before having any holes again.
From another point of view, what do teachers and security staff members think? Well, most teachers feel pretty much safe with the actual security measures and believe these are totally necessary, maybe not 100% effective, but they prevent things from happening. Coach Davis, as a security staff member with 2 years of experience at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, encourages students to also be vigilant and to let security know and act. He stated: “Security are always around but can’t prevent everything, and they provide what they can when there’s a reaction or incident.” He also brought up that they check the bags of the students that trigger the metal detectors. Most of the time, if there are heavy objects of any metal they can tell right away what triggers it in case of anything suspicious. It would lead to a deeper inspection.