Sophomore Hayden Lee trembled in fear during her period four math class as she learned of shooting threats at surrounding schools.
“I do not feel safe. It’s way too easy for someone to get into the school,” Lee said. “There’s no security, no gun detectors or metal detectors.”
A threat at High Tech High Los Angeles (HTLA) and Birmingham Community Charter High School (BCCHS) on Aug. 28 caused surrounding schools to go on lockdown. This has led to students and staff talking about safety protocol and how they will implement it in case of a shooting on campus. Math teacher Gonçalo Sousa reassures students that they will be safe during a school shooting by going over demonstrations and showing where safety supplies are held.
“Students felt unprepared in the event of a school shooting,” Sousa said. “So in my class, we took a day in all my periods to talk about it so that we all were on the same topic about what procedures the school wants us to engage in and what all of us should do.”
Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS) athletes who play for BCCHS teams were concerned about practicing on BCCHS’s campus during the week of the threat.
“When I learned of the threats I was a little bit shocked,” senior Deven Szymczak who runs for the BCCHS cross country team said. “As long as nothing bad happens, I’ll be fine but with that (shooting threats), that’s where I draw the line.”
According to the Magnet Coordinator James Morrison who is in charge of safety on campus, if a shooting were to occur, the school would initiate a lockdown. In order to prepare for a school shooting, students practice drills where they are told to shelter in place and keep quiet. Teachers make sure all windows, blinds and doors are closed with lights turned off in order to ensure maximum safety.
“I feel safe at DPMHS,” sophomore Andrea Arosemena said. “Teachers and staff really care about our safety and make sure we’re doing everything right while on campus.”
In a poll on Instagram that 50 students responded to, 67 percent of students voted that they would feel unsafe on campus if there was a school shooting. Twenty-four percent voted they would feel safe, while 10 percent voted that they would feel very safe.
“I wouldn’t feel safe anywhere because gun violence is such a big thing,” junior Natica Renteria said. “At DPMHS, we only have a huge hallway and little places to hide.”
Alex Salcedo contributed to this story.
