With the recent shooting in South Carolina, students of all ages are reminded of safety in schools. Are Iowa schools doing what is necessary to protect their students?
A.L.I.C.E., standing for Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate, is the current system of informing others about the dangers of unexpected visitors on school grounds. The drills have a history of being ‘frightening,’ some have said.
Compared to the current protocol, A.L.I.C.E.. drills were once a real-time reenactment of a lockdown. The Scott County Police partnered with the schools to teach children about school safety through a real-life simulation. Students were made aware of the drills but not when or how they were to take place. This caused mixed emotions through students and even staff members. Today, most schools have settled for a yearly presentation explaining how to react to situations in which they would need to protect themselves.
Senior Macey Sawvell, voiced her opinion on school safety and precautions. Sawvell shared that she felt very comfortable and safe with the security at PV. She said that although she wasn’t at a school that performed the A.L.I.C.E drills as they once were, she knew someone who had.
She elaborated, “I think I was nervous because I have a brother who also went here so being separated was really scary.” Sawvell explained that she believes PV is doing enough to protect students by locking the doors, doing patrols and the multiple security cameras placed throughout the school.
Associate Principal Adam Pagett, shared his thoughts about A.L.I.C.E drills. “We have worked with law enforcement to create what we’re doing now and we think that the way that we’re doing this is the best way to communicate and get kids to understand how to respond.” He believes that the new form of teaching is a much better way to explain to students a difficult subject in a not-so-scary way.
Despite these drills, things still slip by and anything could happen. “The one thing that law enforcement knows is that 70% of the events that have happened, law enforcement has found out that somebody has said they’ve seen something that would have indicated that person was going to make that step.” stated Pagett. He emphasized that it is important if anyone sees anything out of the ordinary, it is best to speak out about it to prevent things such as school shootings.
Others attending PV feel confident that they are protected at school. Most feel the measures Scott County Police and the school go through to protect those in the district are just and efficient in keeping PV safe.
