On Monday, students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School returned to school after spring break. They were greeted by new security measures which students of the school say make it feel like jail. New precautions include going through security before entering the school and carrying a student ID on them at all times. Students at the school have expressed their frustration, claiming that it is an invasion of privacy.
Part of the new measures includes going through four monitored gates in order to enter the school. Stoneman Douglas has also upped their presence of law enforcement on school grounds. Eight Florida Highway Patrol troopers will be stationed around the school at all times. Teachers are also required to have their classroom doors locked constantly. Also, emergency preparedness and response training will be conducted on a regular basis.
But the issue that has brought the most attention is the mandatory use of clear backpacks. Students of MSD are expressing their concerns on social media and at their school. “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,” junior Kai Koerber, a student at Stoneman Douglas, said. “My school was a place where everyone felt comfortable, it was a home away from home, and now that home has been destroyed.”
A recently common sight has been orange tags with $1.05 on them. At The March for Our Lives, people wore them on their wrists and carried signs with them. $1.05 represents the amount of money each student in Florida is worth from the money that Senator Marco Rubio received from the NRA in the past election year. Students at Stoneman Douglas are now displaying the orange tags on their clear backpacks. They are also writing messages on paper and placing it their backpack stating that the backpacks are worth more than their lives are.
Not only are students mad that the clear backpacks are the government’s way of fixing things, but student’s are saying that it is an infringement on privacy. A common worry among girls is being caught with female products such as tampons and pads. In response to the concern, Cameron Kasky, a junior at Stoneman Douglas, tweeted a picture of himself and his backpack filled with tampons. The tweet was captioned with “#MSDStrong.” He later tweeted back at someone who wished they had as much confidence as him saying, “Here for you if you need anything… tampons and beyond.”
Many other students at the school have tweeted their problems around the clear backpack initiative the school is taking. “There’s a CLEAR line between public safety and invasion of privacy,” tweeted Samantha Fuentes. “That line is crossed at transparent backpacks.” Another student, Jaclyn Corin, tweeted, “Thousands of clear backpacks were donated to MSD… it’s a shame b/c they should’ve been given to a school that actually needs the supplies.”
At the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year, Pleasant Valley continued to try to mandate backpack usage by only allowing clear or mesh backpacks to be used during the day; no other type of bag would be allowed. The reasoning behind this was due to overcrowding in the hallways and to ensure the safety and security of the students and staff. The school administration tried to enforce the mandate by threatening to take away parking passes and not allowing students to attend school events. As the school year has gone on, it has appeared that the restrictions on backpacks has slowly been ignored and not enforced as strongly.
High school administrator Mike Peakin commented that clear backpacks are not a new problem or topic. The use of clear or mesh backpacks has been an attempt for almost eight years now. Due to the size of classrooms, especially the original interior classrooms, there is not enough room for backpacks. “Backpacks can become a safety issue or hazard for tripping,” Peakin stated. “Especially in the events of fire drills or even A.L.I.C.E. drills like we had yesterday when students are trying to exit the classroom.”
But the use of clear backpacks comes down to safety and prevention. With having clear backpacks, things besides weapons can be seen. Some examples that Peakin gave were looking for marijuana, juuls and preventing theft. “Being able to just throw something in your backpack and walk away is an issue.” However, Peakin still commented that if someone was trying to bring a weapon to school, they would find a way to get it in the building.
In light of the Stoneman Douglas mandate, the question of to use clear backpacks or not is a trending topic. Peakin found it interesting that the students of Stoneman Douglas have expressed opinions that they would prefer having metal detectors in order to get into the school rather than carrying clear backpacks around. In a Twitter poll asking whether students would feel safer if clear or mesh backpacks were strongly enforced, students responded 13 percent yes, 65 percent no and 22 percent no, but they would if more preventions were put into effect..
Peakin stated that without staff help, nothing will get done. “It’s like speeding tickets, not everyone that is speeding is going is going to get a ticket. Us administrators only see a handful of kids everyday. We need the help and support from the staff to get things done.” Peakin could only speak for himself when saying that he has not revoked any parking passes but he has handed out detentions, taken backpacks away and kept them in the office and has had to contact parents. These punishments were handed out after multiple times of telling the same handful students to put their backpacks back in their locker.
As this school year comes to an end and with the following years to come, the administration will continue to try to ensure the safety of students and staff at Pleasant Valley High School. As for Stoneman Douglas, they are still being required to use the clear backpacks and take high security precautions. With student activists from Marjory Stoneman Douglas and many other schools nationwide fighting for more protection from gun violence for the country, many other changes will continue to be brought up for discussion.
