Ensuring school safety

Welcome to our newest guest blogger, Phoenix, who is 15, from North Carolina.

School safety is a very important and controversial topic that has many people wanting to discuss the issues.

Kwesi Ndzibah, a teacher and former school safety agent in New York City, wrote in a school safety debate article, "Schools are out of control and no one really seems to have an idea on how to get control back."

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and a survey released in the summer of 2009 about youth violence statistics, homicide is the second leading cause of death among 10-24 year-olds. This could range anywhere from school fights to shootings.


“[Our school] is safe for the most part," said junior Jennifer Adams. "We have drills for fires and code red, and I haven’t seen many fights here, if any.”
Some students, including senior Joella Ross, said “gangs were mostly the dangers” of  going to school.


Principal John Castranio, is pleased with the safety and behavior of the students.


“I have been to several high schools, and this is the best high school with the best students," Castranio said. "I was the principal at Garner High School, and over there, I was just waiting for the next thing to happen. But the students are well-behaved here, and don’t need many teachers to monitor them, even at lunch.”
If that is so, then what about the other schools in America? Overhills High School may be a well managed school, but other schools within the state, and the country, have had a history of school violence that concerns the parents of the enrolled students, an example of this being the Columbine High School Massacre on April 20, 1999 in Colorado. Ten years later, people are still trying to heal those wounds caused by the rampage from the two students who created the chaos, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold.


Actions such as these can bring us to question our own school at times.


“Overhills has great students," Castranio said. "Nothing violent has happened yet this year. It’s the students that make the school so great. I've never been to a school that had students as polite and manageable.”