Craig Daily Press / Kerrie Clarke: A bad 1st impression

Archive for Monday, January 17, 2011

January 17, 2011

To the editor:

Upon re-registering my son back into Moffat County High School last week, I was shocked at the very first impression I had when we walked in the front doors.

There was an enclosed corridor that a visitor must walk through to the front office and then you must present a driver’s license to make a nametag.

Wow, talk about a negative message from the moment you step inside. It truly felt like we were entering a penitentiary instead of a high school.

When I asked why all the security, we were told all the schools are doing it.

Wrong, not true.

I have walked into two very well respected high schools and neither had such a stifling, negative entrance. Instead, their entrances were huge, light and beautiful.

Our entrance screams to the visitor the principal lives in fear and wants total control of the kids creating a very unhealthy message just by walking in the doors.

Yikes, not a message to send to the kids or visitors. Turning our high school into a prison for fear of violence is about as healthy as giving kids good grades for mediocre performances and for graduating kids for the sake of numbers.

Once again, this part of school is a total misrepresentation of what the kids will experience in a college or university. It shows zero faith in students and truly needs to be changed.

It is public high school, not a military institution or prison.

Kerrie Clarke

17 January 2011 at 9:23 a.m.

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nightwatch (Anonymous) says…

with the way society is going,i think the security is a good idea. if you dont understand the reasoning behind what the schools are doing to keep people out that is not supposed to be in there,then maybe they should keep you out to,,,

17 January 2011 at 3:51 p.m.

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onewhocares (Anonymous) says…

First of all, not all schools are doing it. Secondly, the kids face danger every time they get in a vehicle to go anywhere. Thirdly, we live in the country miles from a large city, yet our high school acts like we're in an inner city. Fourthly, you can not live in fear or you stop living and you don't want to pass the fear onto the children. And lastly, when these kids go away to college or anywhere outside of Moffat, they will not be protected by corridors and hall passes. They need to feel comfortable walking freely about with education a very positive experience. The institution should be welcoming to the world, instead of locking the world out. There is always a risk of danger anywhere, but once you succumb to the fear of it, you have lost and obviously the Administration at MCHS has succumbed to it which is very unfortunate.

17 January 2011 at 11:44 p.m.

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jalana (Anonymous) says…

Ever heard of columbine????Just saying.

18 January 2011 at 7:40 a.m.

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missrose (Anonymous) says…

I agree with onewhocares. Yes Columbine was a sad and tragic event but we cannot live our lives in fear. When I was a student at MCHS I saw it everywhere. The staff would watch the kids at lunch like hawks and there always seemed like there was this tense attitude, almost in the sense they were expecting someone to screw up. It has gotten worse the past few years. Security is great and important but to the extent this school has taken it is way too far. If someone wants to inflict harm on people a few doors and a new hallway is not going to deter them. Lets be realistic here.

18 January 2011 at 7:56 a.m.

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als362 (Anonymous) says…

In my opinion Columbine had nothing to do with security that was there or the lack of it. Columbine happened because some parents were not involved with their childrens lives, or the disciplne of them. They, like many others in this day and age expected the teachers and the government to raise their children.