Students should take lockdown drills seriously

My name is Denise Casali. I am a junior at Mundelein High School. I am writing in response to the Dec. 13 editorial, “Vigilance on safety.” As a student, I have had a firsthand experience with lockdowns and security procedures at my school. In my opinion, I think that these procedures should be taken more seriously. Students seem to think it’s a joke when having lockdown drills. This only makes me worry for our safety because what happens if there was a real problem?

This routine carelessness and ill preparation could carry over into a real-life situation and provide an even greater threat to the students. I think this is the first step in bettering school security systems because taking this issue more seriously will put schools on their way to being better prepared in emergencies.

However, I think it is a difficult task to ensure safety. This is not something most want to think about, but any student can put a gun in his or her backpack and bring it into the school without anyone knowing. So what should be done about this? Is it necessary to have metal detectors in the entrances of schools to make sure everyone is safe? Or could schools focus more on the root causes that would lead a student to bring a gun to school in the first place?

Students could bring weapons to school because of bullying and many other reasons. These issues could be dealt with before a greater problem occurs. If students had no reason to bring a gun to school in the first place, I believe this could guarantee the most safety.

Denise Casali

Wauconda