Student Representation and Talking it Out Key to Students Feeling Safe

Security in Chicago Schools varies. Some use a three-fold system with metal detectors, security personal and regular bag checks, while in others students are watched with security cameras. But, a panel of 14 students who came together at Albany Park Theater Project say the measures that make them feel most safe are the ones that allow students the ability to serve one another.

Melony Vizcarra is a freshman at Golder College Prep High School. She says the school does not have metal detectors, but students are watched very closely.

"We're not allowed to go the bathrooms by ourselves," she said. "There are bathroom escorts."

And in schools where there are metal detectors, security guards or even police officers, students do not necessarily feel safe.

At ChiArts High School, there are cameras throughout the hallways and while the presence of police might help students feel safe in case of a shooter, one students says it is a fine line.

"I would feel safe if there was an armed police officer," Carlos DeSantiago, a senior at ChiArts High School said of feeling safe from people who would enter the school to harm students. "But, at the same time, I don't think the police officer should come with the mentality that everyone is a suspect."

DeSantiago said that one program at his school not only helps him to feel safe, but also helps students at the school to succeed.

At ChiArts as well as at some other area schools, students who find themselves in trouble during the day - two students who may have gotten in a fight, for example - would be sent to a peace room. A peace room is a room in the school where the two students in opposition can go to speak to one another - with an unbiased third party helping. The difference for DeSantiago is that in the peace room at ChiArts, the third party is another student.

Albany Park Theater Project is currently producing "Learning Curve," a show that uses the Ellen Gates Starr High School as the stage for a show about the triumphs and struggles of students, teachers and staff in a Chicago High School. The show "Learning Curve" is sold out through Dec. 17, although you can be added to a wait list. For more information on "Learning Curve," click here.

The gathering on Nov. 14 was part of a joint project between Albany Park Theater Project and Free Street Theater. The discussion was part of the StarrHouse, the educational arm of the Albany Park Theater Project, designed to get students and community members talking.

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