Plastic Bins at Security Cause Lines, Delays

Credits: Sonja Talwani

Students who have come to school close to 9:00 a.m. or gone off campus for lunch may have noticed that everything is a little slower than it used to be.

Instead of just a conveyor belt in school security like years before, all students must put their backpacks in bins. Some say it reminds them of airport security, some don’t mind it at all, but most of all, students are confused.

Many students say that the new system of security causes big issues when trying to get to school. “I think they’re annoying and unnecessary,” said Bailey McFadden, a sophomore. “You can just put your things on the belt.”

Some students, however, disagree and think that the new security system isn’t particularly inconvenient.

Another student who asked to remain anonymous said that she has “never been caught up in the line,” but she acknowledged that she comes to school earlier than most students. She said the bins don’t bother her because security officers are usually nice and understanding.

Many students feel that security processes last year went smoothly and do not understand the change in procedure.

Last year, a conveyor belt “went down because of a water bottle that spilled inside the machine,” said Myron Bell, a security officer at Walls. “It caused us to have to get a new machine, which took a long time” and led to weeks of officers hand-searching bags last year. The bins ensure that similar accidents won’t break the machines.

Mr. Bell noted that people at other schools are “not allowed to bring in the water bottles [through security], and they have to be empty.” He thinks that the bins in security are “not that big of a deal.”

“If you can cooperate with us, we can cooperate with you,” he said.