Politicizing student safety

an opinion by Elliot Wolf

On Friday, March 7th, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge and Secretary of Education Rod Paige visited Blair. Their goal was to praise Blair and MCPS for their "leadership role" in securing schools in case of terrorist attack.

Tom Ridge is the living embodiment of the post-September 11 government and society. His position and executive department were created in direct response to the terror attacks of September 11, and the resulting 3600 casualties. The secretaries of the executive departments that were created after the 553,091 cancer deaths, 43,354 car crash fatalities, 16,725 homicides and the 28,663 gun fatalities of 2001 were noticeably absent. (Hint - they don't exist.)

The stated goal of these men is to protect the nation from terrorism, and to provide for contingencies if there is a national emergency. These objectives are admirable and seem to be logical reactions to 9/11. These men, however, along with the rest of the executive branch, fail to see the true effect of their words and actions.

The objective of a terrorist is to frighten and to hurt his enemies, an objective that was attained by those who carried out the 9/11 attacks. They knew however that they would inflict much more damage to America than what occurred on September 11; their actions extended further than simply killing 3600 people and causing a trillion dollars in damage. They gave a somewhat unpopular and, in my opinion, illegitimate administration the opportunity to entrench itself in our domestic and foreign policies, as well as many of our hearts and minds. Due to the way in which the government has responded, almost 7 years of economic growth have been eliminated, we are on the verge of war with Iraq, and a roll of duct tape cannot be found within 20 miles of any metropolitan area.

The response of the government, embodied by Tom Ridge and the Department of Homeland Security, seems to have done infinitely more damage to the American people than the 9/11 hijackers could ever have dreamed. The terrorists have won, and they have the government to thank for it.

By coming to Blair last Friday, Ridge has perverted Blair into part of that embodiment. He turned Blair into the symbol of a new school, a secure school that should be emulated by the rest of the country merely for that reason. With all of Blair's achievements in the areas of math, science, journalism and education in general, Blair is now simply recognized for its security measures and its emergency preparedness.

Despite the fact that Ridge and Paige used Blair for their own political purposes, Blair itself was only given politically-biased exposure, which in my point of view, reflects negatively on the students, the staff, and the overall mission of Blair. Blair's primary mission as an educational institution was distorted. That primary mission is to educate, not to secure.

Despite the fact that a large media "spectacle" was made out of the event, only $30 million was made available to every school district in the entire country. This works out to approximately 50 cents per student in the United States. When MCPS is currently spending $8600 per student, per year, 50 cents will make absolutely no difference. Ridge and Paige gave enough to add credibility to their pledges, but not enough to make any real difference. Also, according to Mr. Gainous, no extra money was given to MCPS due to the fact that the event was hosted at Blair. The share of the money that MCPS received was distributed before Blair was even designated as the host for the event. The superintendent's office paid for the conditioning of the coral room, breakfast for the reporters and a large contingent of security, all without any extra monetary support from either the federal government or the secret service. Given the current budget crisis in MCPS, it seems a serious misallocation of resources.

More infuriating, however, were the circumstances of the event and the accompanying protests.

According to Mr. Gainous, the school was only made aware of the event three days before it happened. The students and the majority of the staff were only made aware of it the day before. This had the effect of both limiting the ability of various protesters to organize, and amplifying the disruption caused by the event by not giving the staff adequate time to prepare.

Despite the fact that the administration attempted to accommodate the protesters, their messages were severely retarted by the efforts of the secret service and the accompanying police. The perimeter imposed by the secret service not only kept the protesters from demonstrating anywhere near Ridge, but also from being seen by the media with Ridge or any other member of the delegation. They were intentionally made to look disassociated with both the school and the delegation, as the bulk of the protest took place outside of the school on the exact opposite side as the conference.

Also, the contingent of security from MCPS and the Blair security guards seemed to be overcautious in the dealing with students and the other protesters. While I was walking down Blair Boulevard during 5B, I was stopped by a security guard and told that my sign had to be confiscated. The only reasoning I was given was that the stick attached to the sign was unsafe. After having an argument with the security guard, going back and forth about how he should think for himself and not blindly obey the administration, I ultimately lost my sign.

The phrase "un-safe" stuck out prominently in my mind. I was reminded of the 1919 Supreme Court decision that ruled anarchist anti-war literature a "clear and present danger" to the safety of the American people. Was my sign literally or ideologically unsafe?

Were the protesters a physical threat to Ridge, Paige and the accompanying delegation? Maybe. Was the fact that over 10% of the school turned out to protest their presence a threat to their messages and to their ideals? Of course. According to attendance records from March 7, there were 278 unexcused absences during 5A. Although it can not be conclusively said whether or not all of them were due to the protest, this is an extraordinarily high number. These numbers say something. They explain why the administration and security made it not only a point to keep the protesters from posing a physical threat to the delegation, but why they wanted to make sure that they were not seen with the delegation.

I ultimately got my sign back after protesting to Mr. Gainous. Dr. Weast was standing right there, and told me that "I'm glad that you have an opinion and are willing to express it." I refrained from telling him what was truly on my mind.

Although the administration did attempt to accommodate the protesters, at least more than the secret service or police did, the mere fact that it would place such an emphasis on security to begin with is upsetting. When asked what he thought the greatest threat to Blair students was, Gainous replied "those cars speeding down University Boulevard." In my three years at Blair, I can remember 6 code red/blue drills, but never have I ever practiced crossing the street. With one student killed and two seriously injured from cars in the past three years, it seems irresponsible to spend resources meant to improve student safety and overall security on the off chance of a gunman or a terrorist attack.

The argument that these new security measures do not hurt is mute. Every class period that is lost to another code red drill or code blue drill ultimately hurts the students. Every time another terrorist warning scares a good portion of the population, people are hurt. Every dollar taken away from social security, medicare or education, and put into security hurts people.

Remember, however, that the next time Tom Ridge changes the terror alert to orange with purple stripes and gold fringes, you are more likely to die in an airplane crash than in a domestic terrorist attack. The most logical thing to be safe would be to start doing emergency evacuation drills in your car, and memorizing the phone number of your local poison control office.