by Mia Lopez | staff writer
Students constantly check their social media and are inundated with information all day online. But at what point do students feel compelled to alert someone about something troubling they might see online?
If you are on Instagram just scrolling through your feed when you see a friend of yours posted so you go and check it out. Then you see what your friend has actually posted which maybe it seems like a joke. They wouldn’t actually do something like that right? We asked around to see when students would react.
What safety procedure put in place is the most effective and why?
“I think that them locking the gates all around the building is probably the most safest I’ve ever seen because a lot of people come in and out without them knowing and it’s a good procedure to know who’s coming in and out. “-Adriana Abrams 12
“Can I be honest? I don’t think really any of them. I feel like the gate put up around the school is unnecessary. I feel the cameras to let you in is also unnecessary um..I think it makes the school feel even more of ajust a place we’re being held and less of a public domain.”- Marcus Estrada, 12
What should you report if seen or heard? What is the line between a joke and real?
“I think most kids my age can tell if something is a joke or if it’s an actual threat – so we would, I know me and my friends, would go to the office and tell either an AP or the principal what’s going on.” -Adriana Abrams 12
“If they made the jokes very often or if it’s very intense, that would worry me. If it was somebody questionable, like they have history, I think that to0 and any sort of actions at all.” -Ava Dalton 10
“I think it’s very obvious if people are joking when things are sarcastic or it’s just a parody of something. I think that’s very lighthearted and we need to be less sensitive to those things. But whenever it becomes non-stop, the person that it’s geared towards and they’re obviously hurt by those posts, then it’s an issue. ”-Marcus Estrada 12
What safety procedure is the least effective?
“Probably the clear backpacks. We did that. like a few years ago and well, I didn’t see that as real effective. ”-Landon Youts 11
“I think the having the ID at the front office for the kids because I know most kids come in who have late arrival and they’re just trying to get to class on time and a lot of the front office ladies, they take awhile to open the door.” -Adriana Abrams 12
Do you think the school is safer than it was last year?
“Um, I think so. They’ve done a lot by like keeping us here and not leaving campus. ”-Landon Youts 11
“I think it is yes because it has a lot more safety procedures put in place this year than the past years.”-Adriana Abrams 12
Why do you think these rules were put in place?
“Because there’s been a lot of more school shootings around Texas and a lot of more threats going around schools basically.” -Adriana Abrams 12
“Because somebody did something wrong um..there’s no rules, until you break them. If you did something wrong, then you need to put a rule so that it doesn’t happen again and we all do what we’re supposed to. ”-Ava Dalton 10
What safety procedure would you like to see put in place?
“I’d like to see maybe a few security guards. We have a couple but more like up in front of the school.”-Landon Youts 11
“I think we can wear..I’ve seen a few schools where they wear their student ID on a lanyard and you have to wear it around school and I think that would be a good one to use. ”-Adriana Abrams 12
“I never really thought about it um..I guess just the only thing I can really think of is just an extra police car or something, just something like that that’s the only real way we could have the action. I know that’s not exactly, like efficient, because having two police cars on campus is like ‘yikes,’ but… ”-Marcus Estrada 12
What social media apps do you think you are more prone to see things you would need to report?
“Honestly, the most I’ve seen is people just texting random numbers like I’ve gotten more bad things through my real number then like Snapchat. ”-Ava Dalton 10
“I would say Snapchat. I like Instagram usually takes down posts that are vulgar – because it you know, violates guidelines, but Snapchat is very like, you can post whatever you want and there’s people that do crazy stuff on Snapchat.”-Marcus Estrada 12
Would you report something seen on social media and would you just report the account or would you bring it to the counselor’s attention?
“I probably would at least report the account and maybe if something more had been done I would bring it to a counselors’ attention. ”-Ava Dalton 10
“It would depend on what I like see. I would report if it’s something worth reporting. If it’s just a joke, then I don’t see the point. If it’s worth reporting then I would just on social media and if it was to the degree where I would have to go talk to a counselor I would. ”-Marcus Estrada 12
How do you feel about the JHS accounts popping back up from last year?
“I think it’s fun. It makes things more interesting. It gives a sense of community to the school and I think they’re funny. I don’t see any harmful ones that would be making fun of anybody for any particular reason they’re all just very light hearted and good for school .”-Marcus Estrada 12
How would you be able to tell if something is a threat or a joke?
“I think that if it was repeating it would be a joke, but if it just came out of nowhere and it looked pretty serious then I would take it seriously. ”-Adriana Abrams 12
“If it made me..like if it was questionable at all, if it was genuine or not I would say something – if I totally know that this person is like a sweetheart and wouldn’t ever do something like that I would probably just double check or something. ”-Ava Dalton 10
“I think it’s like I said earlier – it’s pretty obvious when people are joking, um in my opinion. I think once it becomes very like, once it becomes something that isn’t on social media – it’s less of a joke. Something that is very light hearted over screens, I feel like that’s where it begins and that’s okay. But once it leaves that and it becomes that these people are confronting in person then it becomes an issue. “-Marcus Estrada 12
