As the first semester is coming to an end, Hinsdale South High School has only put the Weapons Detection System (WSD) up once. However, this year Hinsdale South introduced a new K9 dog, Nitro, along with his handler, Kyle, which leads to the question: should we be doing more as an extra safety precaution along with Nitro?
It’s no surprise that the district has begun to do more to protect the school within the past two years, especially after an incident involving a weapon being found at school occurred last year. However, these big changes affect everyone at school.
”We should not enforce [the metal detectors] daily,” sophomore Logan Cederstand said. “Because it is useless since it is very easy to slip through it and it takes too much time. It is not necessary because we already have Nitro.”
Most students seem to share a similar opinion, that metal detectors are bothersome and Nitro is enough.
“The metal detectors are not efficient,” sophomore Anna Martic said. “Because they take too long and when students come back from off-campus lunch, they do not need to go through it again.”
This proves that the way South handles safety is flawed. Many would expect that the metal detectors be up for everyone that comes into the building, even after leaving to come back. ”I also think [metal detectors] daily is a bit of a stretch since we have Nitro, but I feel like some other precaution is necessary,” Martic adds.
Many share an equivalent belief that the metal detectors just aren’t beneficial because they are vulnerable at times and it slows down the process of students getting into school, potentially making them late. But, enforcing this extra safety measure may not be as annoying as students think.
“Yes, it would be my belief that if we had this tool [WSD] for use, using it daily would be advantageous to it,” Hinsdale South Security Officer Edward Zorich said. “We have to use Nitro and the WDS in combination. Both are tools that the district has available to keep the schools safe, so we should utilize all of them.”
This reveals that staff at South may have an opposite opinion, and feel that we should be doing more to eliminate any potential threats and danger.
Enforcing this daily may be tiresome for students but safety is the utmost priority for the staff, even if students may disagree. The WDS became a part of students’ daily lives last year, but now, its use has been diminishing. So, by working together, South can establish a secure defense that works well and that everyone can agree on.
