Wynn Glazer (286)

It’s the first day of school, you walk into your period one class, and your teacher goes over the usual topics: syllabus, norms, schedule, etc., etc. Whether you are a returning student or a freshman, you know what’s coming next: what to do during a lockdown drill.

Students at Central High School understand the lockdown drill: turn off the lights, lock the doors, hide in the classroom like broken puzzle pieces scattered across the floor. What most of us don’t know, however, is the weight of a real lockdown. What if the community was in real jeopardy? What if there was an intruder? What if they had a weapon? There are too many unanswered questions that the School District of Philadelphia and our country as a whole have failed to answer. As of 2020, guns are the number one cause of death for children in the United States of America (CNN Health), but what can we do with this information, and what does it mean for Central?

In recent years, lockdowns and lockdown drills have become common occurrences. From 2018 to 2022, Philadelphia schools have had over 300 lockdowns (NBC Philadelphia). When told this information, one 283 student responded, “It’s not surprising to me, considering the amount of lockdowns we have seen in America just this year.” So the question arises, do lockdowns affect the flow of learning, or make kids fear coming to school? The news is filled with shooting reports, yet most are still not publicized. According to National Association of School Psychologists, performing lockdown drills can trigger depression, anxiety, stress, and other mental health issues in students of all ages, from elementary to high school. The same senior explained that during a lockdown at Central: “I’m usually very scared or anxious…I’m sad that we’re so desensitized to it, and that some people don’t take it seriously.” 

One of Central High School’s Algebra teacher, Ms. Virgo, shares her thoughts during an intense situation of a lockdown: “Pull down the blinds, lock the doors, and then get students situated and safely out of the way of harm.” ABC News states that because of lockdowns, teachers are “haunted by fears that they, their families and their students now won’t be safe even at school.” Even in the cases that no harm was done, Virgo questions if the stress, worry, and effort was all for nothing. Keeping kids safe is one thing, but causing immense mental health drops may not be worth it. “It’s pretty scary that there are people who could come into your school and harm you, and it’s a little alarming the way we react so quickly…is it better, in the unlikely situation for a tragedy to happen, to shut everything down and cause that fear, versus not doing anything and someone threatening really does come into our school?” said  Virgo. The entire situation is incredibly complicated. With or without violence in schools, there is still an impact on students and faculty across the country. 

We have not even made it through the first month of this school year, and worries of a dangerous learning setting are already flooding students’ and teachers’ minds. When asked about the possible root of these intense situations, Ms. Virgo explains, “I think people often have needs that are unmet and feel the need to take it out on their educators and peers.” Most adolescent shooters have experienced failure, abuse, or mental health struggles in their lives before deciding to cause damage (National Public Radio). So what can we do? When asked about ways to stop gun violence, the previously mentioned 283 interviewee responded, “Gun control laws. People need to start taking it seriously.” Going to school everyday knowing there is a possibility you couldn’t return home is one of the most concerning issues in America. It is vital to voice your beliefs in and outside of Central in order to keep first days of school from turning into fearful conversations about the endangerment of our academic environment. 
For more information on how to end gun violence, visit www.ceasefirepa.org