2nd Persuasive Essay

When is Enough, Enough?

            Safety in school is an important issue for all schools, not just public ones. Safety should never be put on the backburner, but when does safety cross the line? When does it become less about the well being of the students, and more about institutionalizing us? Institutionalizing in the sense of a jail instead of a school, making it feel as though we are being prepared for the penitentiary instead of the work force.

            In my opinion, that line is crossed when 5 or more security guards are placed in a school of 1,000 or less students. Or when the first thing a student sees when they walk in the door of their school is a metal detector, and around every corner a surveillance camera. How are you supposed to be productive when you are in an environment that treats you basically, like a criminal?  The answer is you can’t, your environment is one of the prime benefactors in the way you develop and grow. In a way, this harsh school environment can be seen as a self-fulfilling prophecy, if you are being treated like a delinquent your whole academic life, what’s to stop you from becoming an aberrant civilian afterwards.

            Another reason why I feel as though too much security can become domineering is because it makes schools seem more like prisons than actual schools. I mean what other institution has security guards, surveillance cameras and metal detectors? They say we are being prepared for the “real world” what with the time schedules and all but I have personally never seen a business office with a metal detector. And not even in high security banks do I see so many security guards. Unless you plan on having a profession with TSA you probably will never be exposed to so many security precautions at the same time.

            Some maybe able to argue the point that the reason schools need to have such strict security policies is simply because of and for the safety of the students. True, it is a possibility that the major security threats within the schools are brought forth because of the actual students. But we all know that violence in school has been around since the beginning of time. And yes, I do agree times have changed, but all in all kids will be kids. And some kids do some way out things (i.e. bringing weapons to school). Furthermore, with that point you might be able to dispute exactly why we need to protect the innocent students. But I don’t think this methodology is accurate. By subjecting the blameless and deranged to the same treatment wouldn’t you suppose lines would become blurred? The argument can be made that by condemning everyone to the same policy the guilty are weeded out and the innocent are protected, but in actuality the guilty will only sometimes be discovered and the innocent will stay being subjectified. And as history will prove the longer you subjectify the innocent sooner or later they will become dejected. And if they become to deject there is no telling, but these same innocent students might turn into the guilty ones you were trying to protect them from.

            So, in closing I believe stringent security precautions do more harm than good. They create a stigma in the minds of the students. These safety regulations lead children to believe they are being watched, like criminals. It no longer is about security but, I personally believe, about restraint.