By Daniel Edman ’16, Staff Writer

Two years ago, Newark Academy installed a security system that altered the atmosphere of the school environment. As a component of this new system, all doors to the school are now locked throughout the school day, and a faculty member must buzz in all non-faculty members. Although this new security system is supposed to make the Newark Academy community feel safer and more at ease, it may make some students feel confined and uncomfortable.

Firstly, this new system has made going outdoors much more difficult during the day. Just a few years ago, everyone had the ability to go outside, enjoy the beautiful campus and have fun during lunch or free periods without having the difficulty of re-entering the building. The new security system at Newark Academy has had a drastic impact on everyday life at the school partly because now, few students are able to enjoy Newark Academy’s entire premises, which this journalist believes is a shame.

Secondly, the system is incredibly inconvenient. If a student has to enter the school early to meet with a teacher, he or she might not be able to do so because no one is available either to open the door or buzz in the student.  A personal anecdote may illustrate the inconvenience. I remember, last year, I went outside the middle school door just after classes had ended and needed to get back in. I knocked on the door but no middle school student would open the door for me because I did not have my backpack on and was perhaps unrecognizable as a student. The rules of the new security system discourage opening the door for  anyone except for students. I had to wait outside the door for five minutes until a teacher came and confirmed that I actually attended the school. Parents deal with this same inconvenience. In fact, sometimes parents are sometimes denied entry into the school to drop off a form or talk to their child because they are not recognized.  In my opinion, it must be extremely annoying for them to have to get visitors’ passes to get into a school they pay for.

Finally, this new security system might not even be able to stop an intruder anyway. If someone wanted to get inside of the school and cause harm, they probably could. Aidan Fox ’16 says, “The security system seems ineffective because if a person with a gun wanted to enter the building, they could simply hide it, knock on the door, and someone would let him in thinking he was a parent.”  Ironically, the intruder may even receive a visitors’ badge!

However, I do have a solution that could solve these problems. A potential compromise between keeping the students safe and making the new system more convenient would be to give the students and parents keycards like the faculty have to unlock the doors. This would allow all members of the community to exit and enter without having to get buzzed in; anyone without a keycard would be considered an outsider and would have to use the buzzer. Everyone can agree that safety comes first and that we should all be as prepared as we can for emergency situations. This idea would actually improve the security system because we would be able to know which people should not be allowed in the school.

However, Mr. Stephenson, head of the maintenance department, and Mr. Austin, headmaster, stand by the system as it is despite its perceived flaws.  According to Mr. Stephenson, the biggest problem with implementing student ID cards would be that they “are a security issue themselves.  Kids will lose their cards and not tell the administration.  This creates a huge security threat.”

I also had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Austin about the system and my idea.  He told me that the goal of the new security system was to create a safe environment that still replicated the old “open” campus system that was in place beforehand.  However, in regards to the keycard idea, Mr. Austin gave a similar comment as Mr. Stephenson, saying, “The more people enter and exit the school, the worse your system is….  If we handout 585 security cards, then we don’t know what will happen to them or if they will get misplaced.  So this creates another security issue.” He also went on to say that the security system will probably become more restricted and enforced over time and especially when the new middle school is built, which will present even more inconvenience to the parents and the students.

It has been a little less than two years since the new security system was implemented, and although the Newark Academy community has done a good job adapting to the new system, it can still be very inconvenient.  Despite the concerns of Mr. Austin and Mr. Stephenson, I still believe that Newark Academy students should receive their own student ID cards.  We have to prove to the faculty that they can trust the student body.  The implementation of student key cards would give students a larger sense of freedom and also would teach students greater responsibility. Newark Academy prides itself on having a very open community. Presenting more trust to the students and acknowledging the parents as members of the community would truly demonstrate the ideals for which Newark Academy stands.

This article reflects the opinion of one staff writer, not The Minuteman as a whole. To share your opinion, comment below!