When I walked in on the first day of school I noticed something new; outdoor 10′ gates that lock the second the clock strikes 7:30 a.m. So, I wondered if I was the only one who thought it was strange.

I asked 50 students what they thought about them, All 50 students did not like them or see the point of them.

“I kinda hate them. I come here to go to school, not to get a feel for what jail is like. I understand that it is for ‘safety’ but I think it’s more about limiting students. It wouldn’t be as big of a deal but if you come even a few seconds late and are trying to get to class as quick as possible, it sucks because now you have to walk all the way around the school and now you are 10-15 minutes late because you have to sign in,” Coleman Johnson said.

It seemed that students were more concerned about being late rather than it being safer.

“They’re honestly so annoying. If I’m late but have class in the sports med. room for first period, then I have to walk to the main office and sign in, and then I’m 10 minutes later than I would be if I just walked straight to class,” Jesse Campbell said.

To get the administror’s side on this matter, I talked to Ms. Gibson, school security guard.

“The gates and the fences were here last year, we only had locks but the push bars hadn’t come in yet so we decided to slowly try them out at the end of last year but started using them every day this year. The fences were put up for safety reasons and to keep out any possible intruders, so the main office is the only way in. That helps us have a better handle on who is accessing the school and when. Considering the time issue; School starts at a specific time and students that are late have to sign in to the office anyway,” Ms. Gibson said.