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The Cost of Mistrust

After hearing about a shooting on the news or reading about one in the morning

newspaper, many people begin to question their safety on school campuses. Some

even go as far as to demand that their school set up metal detectors and use security

cameras. Yet, when theses people do this, they rarely think about the cost of the

installation, maintenance and operation of these devices, the errors and problems they

cause, or the psychological effect they have on the students. parents, and school staff.

Once everything is taken into consideration, these devices are clearly not worth the

inconvenience they cause because of the costs, problems, and negative affects on

humans.
Metal detectors, baggage scanners, and security cameras are expensive. On

average, metal detectors and baggage scanners for schools are about 30,000 dollars

each with only a lifetime of 10 years at the longest, and that is with out the installation

cost. Metal detectors, baggage scanners and security cameras will also need to be

checked often and maintenance of each quickly add up. Also each device require

specially trained workers to run them at all times in use, at each gate for all hours

schools are open, like weekend and summer events. Also, each device has special

needs for them to be fully effective, like each metal detecting station should have

handheld metal detectors, about 350 dollars each, to find the spot that hold the metal

that set the alarm off. All of these expensive could have gone to school projects or

new books and instruments instead of creating more problems.

Metal detectors , baggage scanners, and security cameras all have major

flaws. For metal detectors its the fact that they can not tell the difference from a gun

and a large belt buckle. Metal detectors go off on many common items such as

large hoop earrings, soda cans and three-ring metal binders, and often go off

on glasses with metal rims, key rings, and foil gum wrappers. Not only that,

but metal detectors can not be near metal cans or chairs, chain link fences,

walls with plumbing pipes, air conditioners, motorized system, or a ceiling with

fluorescent lights. For security cameras people with full knowledge of the devises

can circumvent the system and alter recordings to their advantage, or

troublemakers will simply move to an area they know that there isn't a camera, or

even go as far as to destroy it. For baggage scanners, its the fact that they admit

a few micro rems, giving users a slight radioactive exposure, and although it may

not be a lot, it is enough to raise the concern of some parents.

For most students, standing outside watching the children in front of you

set their backpacks n the baggage scanner and walk through the metal detector

isn't the first thing you want to see on a campus. Even worse is when a student

sets off the alarm and gets singled out in front of other students, which will often

lead to a mistrust of that student from others. Also if students are forced to go

through metal detectors before entering campus, then long lines will often form,

resulting in students and even some teachers being late for classes, causing

even more problems. School staff who must go through theses devices will feel

as if they are not trusted, it will also interfere with there student-teacher time,

since instead of being in a class in the morning or after school, they will be

standing in lines with security cameras glaring at them as they hope to make it to

class on time. Students with illegal items will simple find other ways into the school,

such as simple jumping the fence or going to school so early that the metal

detector workers wont be there, in fact, metal detectors have been shown to

encourage more students to bring illegal items to see if they can trick the metal

detector. This is not the type of campus a principle should want, wouldn't it be better

to come to a nice open clean campus?

Although metal detectors, baggage scanners and security cameras may seem

like a good way to keep schools safe, there are many more problems that they

create. They add up to just be an expensive way for people to show that they mistrust

each other. Overall, schools are just better off without them.