Our Position: Ensuring school safety is an important part of education. The LT administration has done a great job keeping students safe at school and ensuring their well-being.

In recent years, school safety has become a hot issue in our country. Schools now have deal with fears of a shooting increasing as well as ensuring students have the best education. Now students around the country worry about their own safety in their school.

The LT administration has implemented new security measures this year through the Blue Point system that would keep the school safe in the event of an emergency, while not making students uncomfortable on a daily basis. Other schools across the country have tried measures such as clear backpacks, but these measures did little to improve school safety and only made students uncomfortable. LT took a different approach that kept daily student life the same and only helps in the event of an emergency.

The Blue Point System introduces two new features to the school including pull boxes to alert the police and set the school into lockdown, and a text alert to students when the system is activated. Both features will have a positive impact on the school.

The pull box was a smart addition to campus security because in the event of an emergency, the police would be contacted through the pull box instead of waiting to be called in by a student or staff member; or be radioed in by an on-site police officer who might be away from the scene of the emergency.

Some worry that students will pull the police alarm as a prank. High schoolers may be young and still maturing, but they generally understand that school safety isn’t a joke and that the new alarms are here for good reason. The slight possibility of a student pulling the alarm in attempt to be funny isn’t enough reason to stop this system from being in place. The police pull boxes are similar to fire alarms, they alert the school about an emergency. The only real difference is that the Blue Point alarm reads a prerecorded message from the administration and starts a lockdown rather than an evacuation. Students in the past have tried to pull pranks by pulling the fire alarm, but it never made people question the importance of fire safety.

The text alerts are also incredibly beneficial because students would want to know what is going on in the event of an emergency. If students receive a message directly from the school explaining the emergency, then they will be less likely to spread rumors that only increase anxiety and blow the situation out of proportion. When students hear directly from the school, they feel safer and more comfortable. Anxiety increases when students don’t know what is happening and giving teens information can help the student body remain calm should an incident arise.

Some people argue that the new security measures are unnecessary because there is not a great likelihood that an emergency will occur at LT. However, knowing that the school is safe keeps students calm. However unnecessary it may seem to some, the new measures will be important to continue keeping LT safe for everyone.

School safety is crucial because when students are calm and comfortable, they learn better and they will continue to grow. LT has done a good job by not only implementing school safety measures, but also implementing measures that don’t take away from the school atmosphere.

Vote: 19-5