The new backpack policy that SHS is now facing will be catastrophic. They claim this is a way to “protect” the students but their reasoning is flawed. We all know this is so students can’t bring contraband (guns, drugs, knives, etc…) to school but does it really stop this problem? The answer is no. There are plenty ways to sneak contraband into school other than a backpack. I’ve seen more contraband items on people than in their backpack. For example, in their pocket, up their sleeves, down their pants, inside their shoes, and much more. This new rule will not stop anything and will actually make it worse.

If we didn’t have this new rule, things would be different. Would we still have students bringing illegal items into school? Yes, but this policy won’t stop it. There has to be a different solution to this because this isn’t it. Some possible (maybe a little unrealistic) solutions are: Medal detectors at the entrance, drug dogs, clear or mesh backpacks, or getting your backpack checked everyday. My personal favorite, and the most realistic, option is having your ACT teacher check everyone’s bags at the start of the day. We would still have the problem of being able  to hide whatever contraband you may have, but if teachers were to pay better attention to their students they may have a better idea if that student possess contraband.

This new backpack policy needs to be fixed fast before we’re into deep. At the time this post was made, school is about a week away and therefore, we don’t have much time. Who knows what can happen during this period in time and how much worse this problem can get. We need to stop or fix this rule before it becomes completely into action and becomes too late. I trust you for whoever reads this to take action by signing this petition to make a difference for of all students affected. Thank you.

Picture of the new policy for more information: