On October 4, Garfield was put into a shelter-in-place after a shooting near school property, sparking conversation about safety at school. Students recall the numerous security threats Garfield has experienced in recent years and remark that this shelter-in-place is likely the first of many security threats of the school year. The Garfield community carries on with their schooling after each incident, but does the student body feel safe?
Freshman Zia McGuane doesn’t often feel safe at Garfield, “because of the ever-present threat of gun violence. It really can set my anxiety through the roof.” McGuane explained that it’s hard to go to school because they “get scared when announcements come on because you just never know or [get] scared when there are loud noises in the halls.” They explained that it feels like a hopeless situation, “There’s not really a lot you can do if there’s an active shooter threat–just hide in a corner… It really takes a toll on your mental health.”
Some upperclassmen have become desensitized to the security threats. “I used to be more affected,” said Junior Ryland Springer, adding, “It’s all so distant when it happens over and over… it’s made it so I don’t care.” Fellow 11th grader Cindy Liang felt similarly to Springer, “I don’t think [Garfield] is super scary just because of how normalized things like shootings are,” Liang said. Similarly to the underclassmen, Juniors and Seniors remark on the seemingly hopeless situation, that they’ve learned to tune out as a protective mechanism. “If I was living in fear all the time I wouldn’t be able to be a student, so I just don’t think about it too much,” senior Madeleine Smith said.
Some students remarked that the Garfield administration isn’t doing all they can to keep students safe and informed. “We do drills for an earthquake but no instruction for a shooting,” Springer said, referring to the earthquake drill Garfield conducted 3 weeks ago. Garfield has yet to do a lockdown drill for the 2023-24 school year. Springer said the administration, “doesn’t give us any information when things happen,” either. It feels as though the administration is more concerned with “protecting the identities of potential threats,” and less concerned with “protecting our lives,” Springer said.
Most students, however, don’t think it matters what the administration does. “The administration can hang up as many posters as they want, do as many drills as they want. [Shootings] keep happening… I know the school has put protocols in place, but you know we’ve seen that happen at other schools and then there’s a school shooting anyways.” McGuane said. Administration is “doing what they can,” according to Smith, “All the crazy events that have happened at Garfield [is] really out of their control.” Students understand that the Garfield administration can’t change the outside world. “It’s less of a problem with the administration and more of a problem with the laws,” McGuane explained. Smith agreed with this sentiment and added, “Anything that could happen here could happen out in the world. I’m not really sure what they [administration] can do about that.”
Is safety in school as hopeless a situation as students say it is? The Messenger will be starting a series of articles on school safety, security, and possible solutions to the feeling of unrest the student body feels or tries not to feel.
