OxBlog

# Posted 11:34 AM by Anonymous

HIGH SCHOOL SECURITY. An article in the New York Observer discusses the recent hikes in security measures in New York's private schools. My former high school, Dalton, was cited as insisting that parents and even babysitters get photo IDs and subsequently raised tuition to (over) a staggering 23 grand.

While many private schools dealt with a slew of bomb threats in the aftermath of September 11th, many seem to be taking security a bit too far. Moreover, the measures are misguided, and deal only with a general sense of fear rather than any actual problems. Indeed, students at Spence can now take self-defense, learning how to fight off an attacker. Regardless of the benefits and dangers of teaching middle-schoolers supposed moves for defending themselves, in truth, being attacked on the street or in a dark alley is not more likely since the World Trade Center attacks. It seems that in an attempt to feel as though they can in some way control their safety, schools are dealing with unrelated security problems that remain no more a threat than they did 8 months ago.

Of course, since September, schools have perfected their emergency response plans which may be the only way they can effectively prevent the panic that could come with another WTC-like tragedy.

In my days of a more innocent Dalton School that didn't have a plan to deal with bomb threats and anthrax, we wandered in and out of the building at our leisure. Now, in the name of security, students and parents alike must display photo identification, and schools like Spence even have computerized mechanisms for attendance. It seems like more has been lost than our twin towers and much-mourned sense of security--we have also lost, on some level, our youth and a taken-for-granted, lackadaisical and and happily-unappreciated sense of freedom.

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