Another Day, Another Bomb Threat

It's getting to the point of ridiculous. I think I wrote last week that Marion County, and all school systems, need to crack down on students since the bomb threats and security risks are seemingly getting out of control. East Fairmont released early yesterday due to a bomb threat. This follows a major scare last Thursday when a cellphone was found attached to a couple erasers that could be easily mistaken as a bomb-like device.

Here's what I would do: 1) No backpacks allowed. Find a way for students to work online for homework assignments or give them printouts (yes, I know the county has no money for paper but find it). 2) No driving. Everyone has access to a bus or their parents can drop them off. No students should drive. 3) Lock all entrances. Even the main door. Keep it open in the morning and then lockdown from that point. If someone needs in after first period begins, they can ring a buzzer and someone can let them in. All other doors are on lockdown.

I would also make students turn in cellphones at the beginning of the day and hold them to the end. 1) They don't need a cellphone during the course of the day. There's an office phone they can use if there is an emergency need. 2) In the event of an actual school-wide emergency, if students contacted their parents, it could lead to a logjam of vehicles blocking the only artery to the school and prevent emergency vehicles from arriving promptly.

Something has to give. The threats and what-not are becoming a real nuisance. And it's not necessarily the loss of instructional time as much as it is the worry that associates these threats. If students are pulling these "pranks," someone needs to step up and turn in these hooligans because it certainly isn't funny. Something needs to be done...soon.