Although Bedford High School has had to deal with bomb threats in the past, the more recent threats have caused a lot of concern and annoyance in the school as there were many of them in a short period of time and they were very specific, targeting certain people. Because of these threats, students’ lives at school have changed due to the rules put in place by the administration to stop them from happening again.
For you what has fundamentally changed in regards to the new policies to stop the threats on the bathroom walls?
1: “Well I guess the rules keep me more confined, I mean I didn’t really walk around that much in the first place…not a lot has changed and I definitely understand why teachers have to do this, I just think there are so many loopholes in all these rules that people can still get away with writing bomb threats and having all of these new rules may not be worth it.”
2: “Honestly nothing [has changed], I really think these rules – they don’t really apply to me, I don’t see them as life changing so they don’t really have a big, overwhelming effect on me.”
3: “I just think the way everyone…goes about their daily routine has kind of changed because now you’re not allowed to do specific things and so it just interrupts your day. All the students answered no upon being asked if they’ve ever seen a threat written on the walls of the bathroom.
What are your feelings and opinions about the new policies? Do you think there are different ways the administration can deal with this or do you think they are handling it properly?
1: “Well I definitely understand why they’ve put these new rules in place and they’ve done really everything they can do, but I don’t think it’s gonna be enough to stop bomb threats. I think it will scare people out of it but there’s still so many gaps in the system…I just think it makes more work for the teachers…and I feel bad for them because it’s not their fault, it’s a few stupid students’ fault who think it’s funny to write bomb threats so I feel bad that it makes more work for the teachers when it’s not their job to be security guards but I definitely understand why they felt like they had to do it.”
2: “I think they’re doing just fine…I really could care less to be honest.”
3: “I think they could’ve been a little less harsh but at the same time I understand because it couldn’t just continue and there has to be some sort of punishment, even if it is punishing everyone.”
How do you feel about there being video cameras in the school?
1: “I think that makes a lot more sense than…shutting down the hallways during managed time. I’d rather have video cameras outside the bathroom…I have nothing to hide, so I guess that’s just coming from me.”
2: “…in the hallways, I guess that’s fine with me, obviously they have them outside but in the bathrooms, definitely not.”
3: “I think it would be a little weird but, I’m sure there’s video cameras at other schools, and if it comes to that point than yeah, I think that’s fine.”
What has fundamentally changed at BHS as a result of the threats is the atmosphere, it seems to be a common consensus that these new rules restrict the freedoms that students used to have in order to keep the school safe. However, the overall consensus is that the new rules limit the privileges that we have as students at Bedford High School, not our rights.
