Security at FDR High School

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Last year was a hard time for many students nation wide. The mass shooting at Parkland, in Florida, awakened American students to issues of gun laws and mental health. The New Dealer was lucky to sit down with Mr. Manning to discuss security issues at FDR High School.

Mr. Manning, the AP of Security, explained the protocols our school has been taking to ensure school safety. The first thing we must always ensure in that intruders don’t enter the building. FDR has a strict visitor’s policy, in which a staff member will escort visitors, to and from, their destination. We also have alarms on doors, so if anyone tries to leave the alarm will go off. In addition, FDR practices fire and Soft Lock-down drills to have students and staff ready for any real incident.  The goal for Mr. Manning is to have a safe environment at FDR. We don’t have scanning, whereas some schools do. Mr. Manning believes this creates a more positive entry for students in the morning.

We, as an FDR family member, must know that there are two types of disciplinary actions, detention or suspension. According to the Citywide Behavioral Expectations, from the NYC DOE, there are two levels of discipline. Detention can be assigned if students are cutting classes, late to class, have no ID, or if they are vaping. On the other hand, suspension can be imposed if students are not complying with school officials, bullying someone, fighting with another individual, or not serving detention after three warnings.

Many students and staff have been questioning what constitutes bullying. According to the DOE, if a student is made fun of or taunted, due to their religion, race, ethnicity, or sexual orientation, they should speak to a Dean or a Guidance Counselor. If a student still doesn’t feel comfortable speaking with a school official, then they should tell a friend or a parent about it, and the friend or the parent will transfer the information to one of the Deans or Guidance Counselor. From many people’s perspective, bullying happens through social media, so try not to show vulnerability when using it. Bullying can also happen from aggressiveness through texts, as opposed to face to face contact, because the person who is causing the bullying is too weak and insecure to tell the victim face to face.

Our school safety can be improved if students get to class on time and not cut. In order for classes to function properly, students must be in class on time, and the hallways need to be quiet. It is all our responsibility to keep FDR a safe a secure school.