School Safety

Organized+teens+for+gun+reforms.

Lorie Shaull Flickr

Organized teens for gun reforms.

Josh Wells, Connie Phan, Jax Juarez, reporter

Following an incident where a look alike weapon was brought to school, the question of school safety was brought to the Bowie campus.

 

Bowie High School is committed to having a high standard of safety for all students says principal Bill Manley. He said he made an announcement over the intercom for a sense of clarity.

“What happened is a class 4 offense of the student handbook.” Page 39 states the offense is one in which a stun gun/look alike weapon is brought to school. Consequences include DAEP which stands for “discrimany alternative education placement.” Manley said he wants to raise a higher standard for the school.

“The school does a lot to ensure safety,” Manley said. “I met up with the School’s RSO Resource officer. He hopes to use the promise of Bowie bucks to help entice better behavior.

I want to start the Council Committee again, and establish the communication again.”

 

The council committee is where all the club presidents meet and talk with Mr. Manley.

 

Describing the current situation with the BB gun, Manley said it makes you take a step back and look at yourself and the school. He hopes students will start to wear their IDs more regularly.

 

The administration has a duty of keeping the school safe but also has an obligation to protect students’ mental well being. Counselor Alberta Fears talks about duties.

“I haven’t had any concerns, but we have an open door policy for students to come in and talk,” Fears said.

 

Fears further explains ways to vent by using a journal, talking to an elder, having a buddy system, having counselors provide class presentations to those who are very worried, or using resources outside of school to get help if it’s severe. The campus also provides parent workshops.

“We provide students with coping skills,” said Fears. “Weapons are being brought to school because of anger. Students feel like they can’t handle much stress,” said Fears.

 

She advises students that if they see or know something to report it immediately.

“We can also help by following school procedures to stay safe,” she said. “It’s not preventable, all we can do is try to be on the lookout.”

 

Fears says that having the campus watching out for any suspicious activity will make James Bowie a safer place for everyone.

Some elected officials are trying to pass a law about teachers having guns, but how does this affect the students that roam the Bowie halls? Their voices need to be heard.

 

“The faster we get restriction on guns, the safer America would be,” said Senior Samir Bagdadi.

 

He added that the solution is not as easy as arming teachers.

 

“Teachers are human too,” he said.”They can start a shooting just as easily as students.”

 

He added that the solution would be better, more trained security guards.  This would help in case the unspeakable happens.

 

Danielle Ledezma, a senior, described that she feels safe at this school.

 

“…However, you always have that thought at the back of your mind of ‘what if?’” she said.

 

She thinks that the government doesn’t take safety as seriously as it should.

 

“All the talk they have is just talk; we have not seen a change in a long time,” Ledezma said.

 

However, she does not think the issue is easily solved with just adding more security guards.