School safety is an important part to a healthy school environment, but does it ever go too far? With the recent implementation of metal detectors in Carbondale Community High School, many students have different views on the situation, as well as administration. It’s a new transition for all in the middle of the school year, something to get used to. 

Metal detectors help detect items with heavy concentrations of metal, which include contraband of all kinds, but unfortunately include school issued chrome books, 3-ringed binders, carabiners, and more. They help keep areas safe. Ryan Thomas, Principal of Carbondale Community High School reiterates the fact that they were important for school safety. 

“I state that it is unfortunate we feel the need for metal detectors simply because society has forced schools to tighten security measures.  With every passing incident of gun violence, the need for these measures becomes more real. We take the safety of our students, faculty, and staff extremely seriously.  When our students are at school, they are in our care, and we have a responsibility to ensure our building is as safe as possible each day.”

With the importance of safety on staff member’s minds, how long does it actually take for students to get through the metal detectors each morning? 

Sephanie Dillow, the School Resource Officer of CCHS explains the number of students each morning, emphasizing just how long it takes to get through the metal detectors each morning. “The bus entrance only takes about 10 minutes to get around 250 students through the machines. Giant City is hard to monitor, due to a continuous flow of students. But between 8am to 8:20am, we are getting about 700 students through the machines.” Sometimes the metal detectors are faulty, alerting those on new devices every day, even if those objects have gone through the day before, causing the line to move even slower.

No matter the case, metal detectors seem to be a vital part of school safety, taking one step at a time to ensure students feel comfortable at school. Though it is new, it’s just another steppingstone to make CCHS a better environment to learn and grow.