Hillcrest High School – Within the first couple of weeks of school, some students are speaking out about concerns they have regarding school safety.
Sophomore Addilyn Coleman stated that she only feels safe at school some of the time, as other students often make her feel unsafe.
She says that some students make choices that indirectly impact her. “A lot of people think it is funny to destroy things or make inappropriate jokes.”
Coleman says that more teacher and admin appearances could be a productive step in prevention. “More attention to what ́s going on outside the classroom,” Coleman said ̈When there is admin
istration in the halls, it feels a lot different than when there is just teachers. “Administrators do patrol the halls, along with hall monitors, but the school is a big place.
Senior Ashlyn Phillips shares that students’ vaping makes her feel unsafe. “There are a lot of people that will hide in the bathroom and smoke, and there have been a couple of people that snuck
alcohol in water bottles “Phillips said that if they were to add more structure, it would make most things better. I feel like if there is more structure, it will both help a lot but make it worse because it makes people more sneaky,” Phillips added.”If we were to add more structure to school and more consequences to people’s actions, that would help a lot.”
Chemistry and Earth-Space Science teacher RJ Green spoke about how he keeps the students safe.̈Having clear expectations for what happens in an emergency and then giving opportunities to
practice ̈ Green says. ̈I always keep my door locked. I usually try to park myself between the door and the kids. ̈
Green also states that there is a huge difference between awareness and paranoia. He says that students need to keep their face out of their phones.”Everybody can see how well people drive while on their phones well that is about as well as people walk on their phones” Green explained. “Slow down, You ́ll only get one body, the more miles you put on it the more you got to get fixed, the more beat up its going to be.”
Green explained how there is always going to be people who know more about a topic. He noted that keep your head on a swivel. He states that it is something that should not consume everybody but everybody should be aware of their surroundings.
“Know what your limitations are and push them at your own peril”