{"id":62143,"date":"2018-04-04T05:18:46","date_gmt":"2018-04-04T05:18:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=62143"},"modified":"2018-04-04T05:18:46","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T05:18:46","slug":"they-demanded-change-but-parkland-students-say-these-school-safety-rules-go-too-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/they-demanded-change-but-parkland-students-say-these-school-safety-rules-go-too-far.html","title":{"rendered":"They demanded change, but Parkland students say these school safety rules go too far"},"content":{"rendered":"

They demanded change, but Parkland students say these school safety rules go too far<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Student activist Cameron Kasky went to school on Tuesday with a see-through backpack filled with tampons, an act of protest against the school\u2019s new clear-bag policy.<\/span><\/p>\n

For him and dozens of his classmates at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the new rule requiring students to carry their belongings in clear backpacks is a violation of privacy, period.<\/span><\/p>\n

And since the rule went into effect on Monday \u2014 almost two months after a former student sneaked an AR-15 onto campus in a rifle bag and used it to kill 17 people \u2014 students have complained that the policy is unnecessary and intrusive.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnless they\u2019re bullet-proof, I don\u2019t feel much safer,\u201d Kasky, who created the activist group Never Again and helped organize the student rally March for Our Lives, wrote on Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

In their first couple of days back from spring break, some students have turned their school-issued bags into improvised picket signs. Others have turned them into jokes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Delaney Tarr, a student activist at the school, spent much of her Monday evening \u2014 and some of her early Tuesday morning \u2014 decorating her school-issued bag with pins and paint, and also tampons.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need real change,\u201d she painted on the front of the bag. On the back, a pin reads, \u201cEnough is enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The student leaders of Marjory Stoneman Douglas have been demanding change \u2014 namely, tighter gun laws \u2014 since their classmates and mentors were slaughtered at school on Feb. 14. But newly enacted school safety policies aimed at preventing any more school shootings, they argue, go too far without going far enough.<\/span><\/p>\n

They\u2019re too restrictive, yet somehow not effective enough, they say. Emma Gonzalez, a prominent member of the Never Again movement, seemed to question the motivation behind security changes at the school in a series of tweets on Tuesday afternoon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe people with the power to make changes keep making the wrong changes,\u201d she said. \u201cNo matter how much we tell them to listen to us there will always be a backpack manufacturer saying, \u201cHey they need clear backpacks, we got you covered, or a Barricade Renter saying, \u201cHey do you need any extra fences that will create the illusion of safety but are easily jumpable and make all the students feel like a combination of prisoners and livestock?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen people pay money for these modifications on our school (the only one in the county being altered btw) that means Someone Is Getting Paid and I am Sick and Tired of us being treated like prize pigs,\u201d Gonzalez added.<\/span><\/p>\n

But despite the outcry on social media, teachers \u201cfor the most part\u201d have embraced the policy, said Greg Pittman, an American History teacher at the school of about 3,300.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe teachers have the students\u2019 interests at hand,\u201d Pittman said. \u201cWe see danger now and do not want a copy cat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pittman said he supports the anti-gun violence movement started by student activists at the school. He even flew to Washington, D.C, with some of his students for the March for Our Lives gun-reform protest on March 24. But following the arrest of Zachary Cruz, the brother of the Parkland gunman, in late March for trespassing at the school, and then of two students for bringing knives to school, Pittman said teachers are concerned about safety.<\/span><\/p>\n

Family members of Meadow Pollack, who was killed in the Parkland shooting, criticized students\u2019 response to increased security at the school.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c17 people dead, few students bring knives to school, multiple students making threats, and you’re making a joke complaining about clear back packs,\u201d Hunter Pollack, the brother of Parkland victim Meadow Pollack, wrote on Twitter in response to a photo of Kasky\u2019s tampon-stuffed bag.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[A]nything to draw more attention to yourself,\u201d added Meadow\u2019s cousin Adam Pollack.<\/span><\/p>\n

Security at the Parkland school has been bolstered following the Feb. 14 massacre, with about 10 Broward Sheriff\u2019s deputies stationed on campus daily and, more recently, the addition of eight Florida Highway Patrol troopers scheduled to monitor gates from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.<\/span><\/p>\n

Students, now required to wear ID badges around their necks at all times, are being allowed inside through four monitored gates before school starts, and through just one entry point after the bell rings. The school district is \u201cexploring options\u201d to begin using metal-detecting wands at entrances and potentially permanent metal detectors. Sports bags and instrument cases are now checked at entry points and must be dropped off with a teacher or coach before school starts.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe process will be very similar to when you enter a sporting event, concert, or even Disney World. As a first step, we are looking to see if we can get the kids through these entrances in a timely manner,\u201d Principal Ty Thompson said in a March 30 memo to parents. \u201cIt is very difficult to balance both convenience\/privacy with safety\/security; if there is more of one, the other often suffers, but I will do my best to balance the two.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While most of these measures are limited to Marjory Stoneman Douglas, the school district has reinforced safety protocols district-wide. These include requiring all students and staff to wear ID badges and locking classroom doors \u201cat all times,\u201d according to a March 21 letter to parents from Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pittman, however, said the police presence on Monday \u2014 the first day back from spring break \u2014 was sloppy. He said when he drove onto campus around 6:30 a.m. there wasn\u2019t any law enforcement on duty, \u201conly crossing guards.\u201d Security eventually arrived after Pittman called Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union, and Gov. Rick Scott\u2019s office.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKids don\u2019t like any change,\u201d he said. \u201cMost teachers want more security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Tuesday was better, he said, although acts of defiance against the measures from students on campus have dominated much of the discussion on the ground and on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

Principal Thompson, who is revered by much of the student body, has pleaded with teachers, students and their parents for patience as school officials and the Broward schools district figure out how to keep students safe long term.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I know there are a lot of ideas out there, and a lot of coulda, woulda, shoulda\u2019s, I\u2019m working with law enforcement and local officials to put the best logical plan in place,\u201d he wrote in a memo to parents on March 21. \u201cThose that know me, know that I am a common sense kinda guy. There are a lot of great plans on paper, but implementation is just not feasible. And with a million things hitting me at once, I need to make sure plans make sense and are doable.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-http:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/local\/community\/broward\/article207799609.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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