The children of Philadelphia are bleeding truly and it's time we start taking things into our own hands. The Philadelphia police departments have been doing a terrible job protecting us as of recently and SEPTA shows little interest in protecting their vulnerable riders. The students, staff, and guardians of Philadelphia have called for action upon the district to allow students to arm themselves with pepper spray for use outside separate from our safe campuses. I would like to address safety concerns here even though there is no real threat regarding severe bodily harm on school premises students who choose to carry pepper spray must get a written permission slip signed by the student's legal parent/guardian and school advisor. These students must also check in their mace/pepper spray with security every morning where security will log and store away the student's item until the end of their school day. In this way, it is sure pepper spray will not be given to those who are deemed unfit to carry and will prevent misguided use while on the premises. With the rampant spike in crime involving significantly young victims, I think it is absolutely imperative that the district acknowledges the violence that is taking place in our city and allows us the basic right to defend ourselves and our peers. All I hope is that we can come to some sort of consensus on this issue.

Thank you~ AW