The school has a decent sense of security for the students who attend. But the sense of safety is wool over their eyes once they are open to the possibilities.

There are no bag searches and no metal detectors on a daily basis. Threats do exist, and they don’t scare the students. As a whole they are numb to the thought of their friends or teachers being a part of the next school tragedy. But this is a possibility. With a large school and threats on a monthly basis becoming numb to this possibility happens very quickly. The teachers are taught to enforce the fact students need ID badges, and they have to have clear liquids in their school issued water bottles. But teachers time would be much better spent looking for bigger jackets or oddly shaped bags.

Proper safety isn’t easy. It’s tedious and a lot of responsibility for the teachers who already have a full plate. In the mornings, there should be metal detectors for the incoming students. They are usually brought out on days when a threat has been acknowledged. But if someone were to carry out the unthinkable there more than likely won’t be any warnings. It’s not the kids who everyone jokes about shooting up the school who could do it. It could be anyone. Having metal detectors at the entrances would be a good but tedious solution. But safety of not only the students but the faculty of the building should be taken into account. All threats should be taken seriously and be checked in on. The responsibility of this falls on the students of Altoona Area High School. When someone jokes or mentions any type of plan or talks about wanting to commit such vile acts they should immediately report the person to a principal or any teacher for that fact.

The safety of the students and faculty of the school should be of the highest priority. Precaution and preparation is better than thoughts and prayers when it’s fellow students lives on the line. If the students and faculty were to speak out about safety concerns the board of education would eventually take notice. In the world, it should be apparent that evil exists among us. As a nation we see it every day.

For some students the recent massacre at a mosque in Pittsburgh is probably the closest tragedy they feel they will encounter. Other students will have other tragedies to speak of.

From personal experience there is a tragedy I think of every day. It’s a feeling I wouldn’t wish on anyone for any reason. There are nights where I can’t sleep and mornings where I don’t want to get out of bed. All I can remember is sluggishly going to school on the day of the tragedy. Then before the first bell rang for class a student opened fire on people that I knew personally. I remember hearing names of those injured and those who passed being released throughout the entire day. This is a feeling no person should ever experience. It is an experience that I could never have imagined before. But now it’s a reality that affects my everyday life.

Some may say that it will never happen here. Or that it will never happen at my school. But I had said the same thing. Here I am saying the complete opposite now. This year alone the United States has seen 31 dead students during 16 different tragedies. This is more deaths than death rates during military operations. Some of these tragedies have been found to have been preventable with proper precaution. It’s a very morbid thought to have, but it shouldn’t be an ignored possibility. If the board of education can fund an expensive new building then it most certainly better be more secure than the current buildings. For some of us near the end of our education it may not be a priority. But one day some of us may be looking at the same morbid thought from a parent’s point of view.

The safety of students and of the faculty should be of the highest priority to the school. Every morning there are thousands of unchecked bags that enter the school. Any one of them having the possibility of holding a steel tool capable of irreversible damage. I would rather have a school that’s prepared then a school who has to send out prayers.