Op-Ed: The future of OHS security
By Caleb Parker
Picture of the East Campus Main Entrance taken by Caleb Parker
Every day, students walk through the Owasso High School halls, oblivious to the protective security measures that transform the environment into a safe, well-guarded zone for empowering education. However, many have addressed the vulnerability of current security measures, but fortunately, new protocols have been discussed within the recent school bond that were sure to heighten the safety of students. These security measures were in Proposition I, a bond which failed to pass in the recent election.
There is a natural blanket of protection that students feel as they enter and exit the school building; however, there are some cases in which the entrances and exits are capable of being compromised. For example, despite it being a rule that students aren’t allowed to open doors for other individuals, I have personally witnessed occasions where this rule was bypassed in favor of convenience.
Picture of the hallway entrance outside of the PAC taken by Caleb Parker
After talking to School Security Officer (SSO) Dustin Moren, some of my immediate concerns began to vanish.
“I’m usually pretty good at catching people that I know [are] not a student,” commented Moren. “I mean, we’ll get people that don’t know where the main office is and they’ll try to come through [the Old Common] doors, [but] I’ll redirect them to the [main entrance] door.”
When asked about his job as an SSO on the campus, Moren explicitly stated that it was his job to “protect the students and the staff,” nodding to the matter of door security around campus. “[I’m] looking around, checking doors, pulling doors … and making sure all doors are [constantly shut].
And I agree with Officer Moren; our safety on campus is of the utmost importance for every individual in the school. However, it still feels as if certain doors and entrances around the campus are more easily susceptible to entry.
The lack of sufficient surveillance and officers may seem troubling at first; after all, if the school isn’t secure, then students’ lives are being put at risk.
Picture of Ram Café taken by Caleb Parker
Nonetheless, there is always room for elevated improvement. Though the OHS security system isn’t perfect, future measures are being taken to ensure that its protection is lifted to the next level.
Senior Assistant Principal Karah Whiddon shares her thoughts on how the staff is taking precautions on top of their ordinary responsibilities, noting the difficulty between making students feel at home while also bridging the gap between security and a welcoming environment.
“There’s a lot of preventative measures that we have and then there’s also active measures that we have for security … for example, we have our custodians throughout the day checking all of our exterior doors, and making sure that … we are secure,” shared Whiddon.
We discussed the upcoming school bond and the incorporation of wearing school IDs. Whiddon sat and pondered for a moment, recognizing the gravity of administering this drastic change for OHS and its students.
Whiddon replied, “It’s definitely something that we’re talking about right now … and how IDs would help us know every single kid in the hallways. The conversations we’re having right now are around … implementation; what does it look like when we implement it, and how do we ensure that it’s happening?” She continued, “There’s some other districts around who use their badge system, and they have software to do this—where their IDs also scan to pay for lunches or their IDs scan to even come [into] the building … it’s integrated with their attendance system, which is a really neat idea.”
Union High School (UHS) for example—like other high schools across the state of Oklahoma—has already converted to making wearing school IDs a mandatory requirement. Students entering, walking in and exiting the school always need to be wearing an ID for identification, and this has considerably increased the level of safety for the school.
Whiddon, along with other OHS staff and school board officials, have been contemplating this crucial feature’s necessity at OHS due to its efficacious results at schools like UHS.
Yet despite the newly discussed security protocols, Whiddon recognizes that it really isn’t about the physical ways of securing OHS—it’s about making sure that all students are welcomed with an inclusive, inviting environment.
“I feel like one of the best things we can do along with these technologies … is making relationships with kids and giving our teachers a platform so that they can make relationships with kids. Because kids who feel a sense of belonging to an organization … are more likely to [feel safe],” Whiddon stated.
The high school’s security is on an upward, linear progression. School IDs, extra resource officers and increased awareness for students about safety protocols, like greeting and guiding strangers, are the kind of upgrades we need in order to make OHS’ security go from standard to spectacular.