Thievery has been a growing problem in our school, and ground zero is the girls’ locker room. The net worth of all of these treasures put together over the years could be tens of thousands of dollars. With each phone being worth around $800 at minimum, not to mention AirPods, cash, cards, wallets, and more, this problem is getting out of control, causing administrators to lock the locker rooms before school, until they need to be used during first period. This is a major problem, and with each new incident, we as the student body lose both our faith and our freedom. Is there a way to turn the clock back, to restore faith in students? Or will we just have to live under lock and key?
The amount of stolen money within the last year Is astonishing. But even with all that has been taken, there is not much that can be done. Sure, maybe you’ll eventually track down your phone, after hours filled with worry, and the fear of potential parental repercussions, but you’ll probably never get that cash back. Don’t get me wrong, administrators are working to solve the issue, but there is only so much that they can do after an incident has occurred. Administrators are left with few options, such as reviewing camera footage and interviewing people, and preventative measures are limited or useless. Even with teachers locking doors during the class period, there are still occasional thefts.
You can’t trust having valuables in your backpack anymore. Having them on your person is the most reasonable way to have valuables close to you, but what do you do in P.E? While not exclusive, thefts are predominantly occurring in the girls’ locker room. Most leggings don’t have pockets, and if you are able to bring your valuables with you, you run the risk of losing or breaking them during P.E. activities.
So, what do you do? Mr. B’s advice is to get a lock to bring to school, or keep your belongings in a teacher’s locked room. “If you have something valuable, and you’re worried about it, don’t just leave it here. Ask a teacher to lock it up.” If you don’t want your stuff stolen, then don’t keep it in the locker room, even if it’s buried at the very bottom of your backpack.
The worst part about this, is that the trust in your peers has been broken. Surprise, surprise, people don’t like when their things are stolen. To put it bluntly, it makes many people upset. They tell their friends, who then tells the person who sits next to them in math, that something of theirs got stolen. Soon your whole graduating class knowns. It’s a chain reaction, a witch hunt in a sense. People want to know who did what, how much was taken, if they got suspended or not, and rumors begin flying. Sure, they have a right to be upset about their items being stolen, however… to play devil’s advocate, no one should be ostracized for doing something that upon being caught, makes them feel badly, are reported to the police (after which the victim can choose to press charges) which would probably scare them off from a life of crime for the foreseeable future. Let me be clear, I’m in no way condoning this behavior, but after the horse is dead, there is no use in beating it.
It’s a gray area, between having enough security, and having enough freedom, frustrating everyone from principals to students, and the teachers who have to hear about the aftermath. This is why we can’t have nice things. The sad reality right now is that we can’t have valuables in an open space. The trust is gone, and we, the student body, are the only ones who can take it back.
