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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Metal Detectors are No Longer Enough

School districts have begun using x-ray machines in schools to increase the level of safety. There have been over 100 installed in Illinois, Tennessee, Virginia, Texas, and New York. People who support using x-rays in schools argue that this way, security officers can see what is in a bag, rather than just knowing that there is metal in it. While this makes sense, I went to a school that had no security checks at all. The thought of metal detectors is strange to me, but to put an x-ray machine in a school? It would make me feel as if I was trying to get on a plane, not go to class. I feel very mixed about this issue; I feel that it is a good idea, and that certain schools probably do need this amount of security, but at the same time, it could really disrupt the way students enter school. Is there going to be a machine at every single entrance? I went to a very small school and we still had 8 or 9 doors around the building. A school would almost have to block off every entrance other than the one that had the machine to truly keep the students safe. And blocking off these entrances could create a huge line of students waiting to get into the building.

2 comments:

liz exo said...

Adding x ray machines in school entrances is taking it a bit to far when saftey is concerned. I am currently in an environmental health class, and we just learned about how dangerous x rays are for humans. An occasional x ray at the doctor is hardly harmful, but repeated daily exposure is downright unhealthy! Such large amounts of x ray exposure can lead to cancer. So, it is appaling to me that schools would implement such a thing and not be smart enough to research the health effects of this.

eschmidt said...

Besides the obvious health concerns involved with incorporating X-rays in the schools, I am also very concerned about the emotional affect that this will have on students.
Can you imagine being checked through airport security every time you walk in to school? That sounds absolutely terrifying. Schools are supposed to be a place where students feel emotionally secure. How can someone feel safe and comfortable in school if they are terrified of large x-ray machines or the prospect of a fellow student bringing a weapon to school.
Maybe we should reconsider the ways that we monitor what students bring to school. Other education classes have taught me that students bring weapons to school when they feel emotionally or psychically unsafe or disturbed. Rather than machines, shouldn't we teach our students to respect each other in the first place and truly enforce safety in respect in our classrooms?
Just a thought... sounds too good to be true, I know. But still, it's frustrating that we must try to stop the problem with machines rather than actually looking into WHY students might be bringing hazardous items to school.