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Discussion Boards => Off-Topic => Topic started by: jwkelly on April 03, 2018, 02:49:21 am
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Survivors of a school shooting in Parkland, Florida, returned from spring break Monday to new security measures that some students said made them feel like they were in prison.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas students encountered security barriers and bag check lines as they entered campus Monday morning.
Inside the school, administrators handed out the students' newest mandatory accessories: a see-through backpack much like the ones required at some stadiums and arenas, and an identification badge they must wear at all times.
The bags were yet another stark reminder of how much had changed since a former student stormed the hallways on February 14, gunning down 17 people, junior Kai Koerber said.
First, students lost their classmates and teachers. Now, with the bags, they're sacrificing their privacy for what he and others consider an ineffective security measure.
"It's difficult, we all now have to learn how to deal with not only the loss of our friends, but now our right to privacy. My school was a place where everyone felt comfortable, it was a home away from home, and now that home has been destroyed," he said.
a close up of a device© Courtesy Connor Dietrich
'This backpack is probably worth more than my life'
The shooting galvanized a student-led movement calling for stricter gun laws, and some students used the clear bags to make a political statement.
Koerber and others attached an orange price tag to their bags. The $1.05 tag is intended to protest politicians, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, who accept money from the National Rifle Association, by putting a price on each student.
"We are doing this in order to demonstrate the fact that we stand together on all issues, and that we, as a student body, refuse to be reduced to nothing more than dollars and cents," Koerber said.
Senior Delaney Tarr tagged Rubio in a tweet of a picture of her bag with feminine products and the orange price tag attached to it.
"Starting off the last quarter of senior year right, with a good ol' violation of privacy!" she said in another tweet.
In addition to displaying the orange tag, senior Carmen Lo stuffed a sign into her backpack that read "this backpack is probably worth more than my life."
She also wonders how students will carry sports equipment, instruments and laptops.
"Many students are actually unhappy with the clear backpacks, as they believe that it infringes on their privacy, so they wrote messages on pieces of paper and put it into the clear backpacks," she said.
"We come to school to learn, so I don't think that we should need to subject ourselves to these measures. We shouldn't need to worry about our safety and our security while we are at school."
a man wearing glasses© Courtesy Kai Koerber
Solution or pacification?
Koerber thinks metal detectors would be more effective than clear backpacks.
"Just implement a system that works. Similar to what they do at court houses and the airport!" he said. "It's terrible that girls will have no privacy concealing their feminine products, and these bags won't last a week with real textbooks in them. Metal detectors are a better solution."
The school district said it's considering whether to install metal detectors at the school's entrances. A letter from Principal Ty Thompson sent to families on Friday said that step has not been taken yet.
Clear backpacks may deter some from bringing weapons into school, but without metal detectors people can still conceal them in folders or in between papers, junior Isabella Pfeiffer said.
And backpacks won't prevent firearms from getting in the hands of dangerous people in the first place, she said. It would not have prevented the February 14 rampage, because the gunman was not a student.
"This isn't a solution to making sure that a tragedy like the one that happened at Douglas doesn't happen again," she said. "Many of us think that this is a way that legislators can pacify us instead of enacting actual change."
Junior Connor Dietrich used tissue paper to obscure the contents of his bag. He, too, thinks the bags are not the answer to preventing guns from getting into the hands of the wrong people, which is what he and other students are fighting for.
"You know it's only difficult because if we were being listened to and common sense gun legislation was brought into play we wouldn't need all of this to be safe."
Junior Jack Macleod said he is not opposed to the clear backpacks if they are used with other safety measures, such as metal detectors or wands.
But safety may come at the cost of a productive school environment, he said.
"I definitely feel safer, but in no way is school going to be a place of cognitive education and creativity when it feels like a jail cell," he said.
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At first I felt for them but now they're just whining about every lil thing !!! You had a school shooting because everyone who knew Cruz looked the other way or dropped the ball including students . What are you hiding in your pack ,lockers and desk is what matters,if you want privacy then get homeschooled.
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I feel for them, I really do, but they could just as easily say "no backpacks" altogether. Students would just have to carry their books and supplies. That's the way it used to be, it's quite possibly the next step.
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With all of them having to have a tablet to do school work , that's all they should need, but who is going to trust someone stupid enough to eat tide pods ? and snort condoms "the latest craze" If we can build a wall we can put locks and metal detectors in schools and security people. or stay home and school on line and save me having to pay taxes (paid) for schools when i never had any kids !
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I don’t know why we’re giving so much credence to what they think. Of course they don’t like clear backpacks. They’re teenagers. They don’t like anything. Lol. Let’s let the experts handle gun control, and while I respect their right to protest and get involved in politics, there are others who are far more knowledgeable who I’d rather be listening to.
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The easiest measure they could do is to get volunteer retired people to come in with legal right to holster a gun and be the security. This would do away with the rest of the crap.
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Well, the students didn't get what they wanted; abolition of the second amendment, which is a great way to only allow only criminals to have guns (which they will be able to obtain illegally).
Those students are showing their own selfishness by not accepting measures that are being done in an attempt to shelter them from harm.
I don't think there is any good way to keep bad people from doing bad things if they are determined to do bad things. :angry7:
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I don't think more guns is the answer -- whether it's teachers, ex-military, or the retired holding the guns. Think about it: They're human too. Just because they have some title next to their name doesn't mean they don't have bad days or mental health issues. All it could take it is one bratty kid to set them off and suddenly there's a mass shooting that an adult is responsible for. It's just a terrible situation, and while I believe 2nd Amendment rights are important to protect, some smart gun control could have prevented this horrible situation.
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That horrible shooting, and the students are being used by political parties to move an agenda.
I am praying the kids and their parents wake up, and realize "guns don't kill people".....people do, by all sorts of weaponry.
:rose:
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i wouldent care for it myself,,but its for there protection
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After a few school shootings I think it is a good idea. I am glad my kids are out of school. I just pray that no family should ever have to go through that ever again :peace:
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That horrible shooting, and the students are being used by political parties to move an agenda.
I am praying the kids and their parents wake up, and realize "guns don't kill people".....people do, by all sorts of weaponry.
:rose:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
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Students who live in inner city areas, have been using clear backpacks for a long time already... get over it. It is school they have regulations.
The spectators for the Boston marathon are required to only have clear backpacks to view the marathon, they get checked in at checkpoints.
I remember when there was no cameras on the street recording your every move, and now, they are accepted & everywhere.
Times change.
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They act like they're being made to go to school in see thru clothes or nude.
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It is unbelievable to me that the first step was not to put in metal detectors. The person who shot up their school was not a student so no one was checking what he carried in a backpack, a metal detector would have stopped him or at least sounded an alarm. Are they going to make up clear cases for all of the musical instruments, athletic equipment, science projects etc? This sounds to me like they are just doing this to make you think they are doing something, when it is nothing.
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It is unbelievable to me that the first step was not to put in metal detectors. The person who shot up their school was not a student so no one was checking what he carried in a backpack, a metal detector would have stopped him or at least sounded an alarm. Are they going to make up clear cases for all of the musical instruments, athletic equipment, science projects etc? This sounds to me like they are just doing this to make you think they are doing something, when it is nothing.
He went to the school and tried to sell weapons to students. And clear backpacks is a start,it's impossible to stop a smart lone gunman but this guy should have been caught and dealt with and no casualties. Those who don't like the measures can opt for homeschooling,transfers....
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It's funny how the immediately start marching and making demands but then when rules are ENFORCED ON THEM then scream foul and this ain't fair I didn't do anything. Well ya friggin idiot neither did the MILLIONS of legal gun owners that you are trying to take their guns from. People are so stupid.
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I think the clear backpacks are a good idea
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When something drastic happens in the school, then drastic measures have to be taken. The school has to be on point when making a list of dos and donts for students. All the shootings at other schools or their school has made it mandatory to carry a see thru backpack.
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When something drastic happens in the school, then drastic measures have to be taken. The school has to be on point when making a list of dos and donts for students. All the shootings at other schools or their school has made it mandatory to carry a see thru backpack.
How do you have 4000 plus posts and only 20 plus thanks ? Even I have 30 plus and on 800 plus posts and I'm abrasive. I have to give you some thanks.