School security is a perpetual issue these days, and rightfully so, as the number of school shootings and other threats to student safety continue to climb year after year. It’s obvious that the work LMSD has been doing to improve school security is all well-meaning. Last year, after deliberating on possible measures to improve school security, LMSD decided to introduce student IDs to Lower Merion to pilot for the last few months of the school year. These IDs, although promised to return in the fall of 2023, never seemed to come back, as the months of this school year have come and gone without a reappearance. Their, which were undoubtedly rooted in a well-intentioned idea, now has some wondering if the IDs ever really held any benefits in the first place.
Last May, LMSD introduced student IDs to LM in an attempt to improve campus security. According to the Student ID FAQs, which were attached to the email Dr. Johnson sent to the LM student body on May 8th, the full-time wear of student IDs was considered especially important in order to “easily identify all individuals in the building,” and identify individuals who are not supposed to be on campus. But these IDs, which were supposedly an important component of campus safety, only applied to LM. The main reason cited for this discrepancy between LM and Harriton was the transition from the main building to the district administration building, where many science courses are held. However, on the FAQ page, in response to the question of how IDs make the campus safer, there is no mention of this transition from the main building to the district administration building during the day. The response given instead references the need to identify students, especially in emergency situations, and potentially unsafe individuals who are not meant to be on campus. However, the need to identify those throughout campus is not inherently unique to LM, which begs the question of why the IDs were not mandated across both high schools. Putting aside this question, however, the true need for the IDs within the building is questionable. Why was it necessary for students to continue to wear their IDs once they entered the building? After all, if everybody who entered the building was checked for an ID, as was the case, there should have been no question as to whether individuals inside the building were in fact students If there was truly an acceptable level of thoroughness in ID checking, then there should have been no real reason for students to wear IDs throughout the school day. However, even though there were promises that the IDs were coming back for the 2023-24 school year, they never made an appearance, and as of now students are not required to wear or present identification, so perhaps LMSD also recognized that while the student ID policy was logical in premise, it’s application failed to introduce meaningful additional security to LMHS. All of this is not to say that the idea behind the IDs was faulty or that the movement to provide additional security to LM should be dismissed. Rather, the failed implementation of the IDs reveals a lack of care from administration in both the enforcement and execution of the idea. This lack of care and acknowledgment is an incredibly poor reflection of the way we handle safety at LM, especially seeing as there have been no updates in the current year to address this failure.
The problem in LMSD extends farther than a mere lack of proper implementation of safety measures. Oftentimes, LM lacks basic and logical safety measures at all. Take, for example, school entrances. The Kobe gym entrance to LM is generally known to be unlocked well after school hours, in order to allow students participating in late after school activities access to the building. However, this presents a security issue as theoretically anybody could gain access to LM through this entrance past school hours, as students frequently find themselves entering through Kobe to find no staff present around the entrance. This poses a potential danger to students who stay late after school for activities, as the school is open via the Kobe entrance for anyone to access. Theoretically, had the IDs been properly implemented, it is understandable why it would be easier to have everyone identified at the same entrance. However, seeing as there is no way to identify students in the morning, this measure becomes another empty attempt at improving safety without any substance. Especially considering that none of these entrances are at all locked or blocked off during the school day, this once again illustrates the lack of care that safety is handled with at LM. Why not just leave all entrances locked and place a security guard to buzz students into the front entrance as necessary? This would eliminate the possibility of dangerous individuals entering the building through an unlocked entrance and better protect all students inside the building.
The school security concern is not going away. School shootings reached unprecedented amounts in both 2022 and 2023, with 346 shootings recorded across the nation in 2023. And while school security problems may feel far removed, they are truly not. Just last year, an LM student was able to sneak in two of their friends who attend a different school. All things considered, it is vital that LMSD addresses these concerns with concrete steps beyond plastic IDs and lanyards and instead take more impactful measures to ensure school safety.
