As seniors with fourth period off, we leave school every day after third period through the front entrance of the school. Given that it’s an indoor area, the hallway leading to the doors of the entrance is not monitored by the surveillance cameras recently installed on campus.

This, combined with the fact that we personally have never been checked by staff members to make sure that we’re actually allowed to leave (the staff hasn’t checked with any of the other students we know with fourth off either), makes it seem fairly easy for people to walk in and out of those glass doors without being questioned or checked.

We have to admit this has definitely made leaving campus easier for us (and surely for the dozens of other seniors without a fourth period), but the lack of supervision still raises the question: How can the school account for its students if it doesn’t keep a closer tab on their whereabouts?

What if something happened to a student while he or she was supposed to be in school but wasn’t actually on campus?

Students may want to leave without permission, but it’s still the responsibility of the school to prevent them from doing so, right?

We used to see campus monitors checking the doors, to whom we would have to show stickered ID cards or give slips to justify our early departure. As of late, we haven’t seen them outside the doors – we see them on campus during passing period and lunch, yes, but not outside.

While the issue of students leaving before they rightfully should is important, it seems that the bigger issue at hand is whether or not someone could enter the school without being verified by faculty or staff. Student safety relies not only on order and proper student conduct within the school, but also protection from any danger that lies beyond the bounds of this campus. Yes, every visitor is supposed to sign in at the office, and almost all do; but if a threatening individual were to enter our campus, would he or she really be stopped?

It takes one open entrance for someone to gain access to an entire campus of students – it’s almost as if the potential dangers of unmonitored front doors nullify all the security provided by the rest of the iron gates and cameras.
Again, we know how many students are on this campus, and completely understand that it must be hard to supervise all of them. That said, all students deserve safety while in school, and we are left to wonder how exactly our safety can be ensured by the school when the door that separates us from the outside world may as well not be there.