My sons school secruity is a joke.

asea

wiggly wrote: »

would it? madness? what are you using the security to do?

two girls were kidnapped by their father and taken to libya - their mum had sole custody and he married on of them off at the age of 13 as a result of that day - the mum had NO chance of getting her children back and never did as far as I know - this was before security started

it made sure none of us bunked of school - once we were dropped off by our parents or arrived at school there was no leaving!

it was an arabic school and sadly the racist !!!!!!s that lived nearby thought it was amusing to phone in bomb scares & threats all the time (i went to school during the first gulf war) so there was an increased threat against us as pupils and the school as a whole because it was arab

can't see why people would have an issue with security still - it's hardly instilling paranoia to have security & gates & so on.. and kids should be taught the fear of the unknown otherwise there wouldn't be issues with kids talking to strangers or going out on their own now would there?

It's all about balance & logic

uktim29

LittleVoice wrote: »

We are just instilling fear in our children by suggesting that they need to be protected from anyone who might happen to come onto school property.

I was thinking along similar lines but with a slightly different idea. If an adult wanted to enter to do whatever harm etc I don't think it makes much difference whether you lock a gate or not!

For the children escaping argument. My school also had no locked gates and didn't have any escapees! Also if you weigh up the chances of needing to get them out quickly for an emergancy that would probably be a higher risk.

ilovemycats

At aged 10 (Middle School) we used to go out at lunchtimes and down to the local chippy for lunch, was about 1/2 mile away through an estate. It wasn't really allowed though but damn good fun.

At aged 13 (Upper School) anyone was allowed to go out at lunchtime. All you had to have was a lunchtime pass stamped by your parents. We'd go into town almost every day, about a mile away.

No one ever went missing or was kidnapped. Actually yes there was once, I think they had chips and a battered beefburger smeared over their car windscreen. Other time was some idiot trying to sell us fake Rolex's, I mean !!!!!!, where do these people think schoolkids are going to get £100 from. Oooh, yes, let's have a whip round. £4.23 and a Curly Wurly, maybe some Panda Pops?

wiggly

asea wrote: »

two girls were kidnapped by their father and taken to libya - their mum had sole custody and he married on of them off at the age of 13 as a result of that day - the mum had NO chance of getting her children back and never did as far as I know - this was before security started

it made sure none of us bunked of school - once we were dropped off by our parents or arrived at school there was no leaving!

it was an arabic school and sadly the racist !!!!!!s that lived nearby thought it was amusing to phone in bomb scares & threats all the time (i went to school during the first gulf war) so there was an increased threat against us as pupils and the school as a whole because it was arab

can't see why people would have an issue with security still - it's hardly instilling paranoia to have security & gates & so on.. and kids should be taught the fear of the unknown otherwise there wouldn't be issues with kids talking to strangers or going out on their own now would there?

It's all about balance & logic

there aren't "issues with kids talking to strangers" if you want to look at risk then a child is at more risk being locked up with family members at night, not by some strange bogey man on the street

should we lock kids away from all their family then?

UKTigerlily

omg @ locking kids in. I never had a locked school & it never did us any harm. I don't really think having unlocked gates is a problem, it's a risk if they're locked!

arnie&caseysma!

I can understand where the OP is coming from with things like Dunblane having happened in the past but the occasions where things happen in schools are few and far between.

Yes we unfortunately live in a society which appears to be growing more and more dangerous on a daily basis but if we constantly lived our lives in a "what if" way then we would do nothing at all.

My primary school used to have a low chainlink fence that we used to do "tumbles" over (god help you if the teachers caught you!) and gates that were never closed. It only got ten foot fences and gates that locked to keep the vandals out at night and these gates are still not locked during the day.

Children cannot be wrapped in cotton wool forever and whilst at a young age have no sense of danger they do pick this up as time goes on and soon learn - usually by the time they start school, if not before that.

chika

I don't see what schools expect to achieve by locking gates. I'm a trainee teacher and I do not know of any schools that do.

What schools should do is ensure that the entrances ie doors are secure - but children should still be able to open them from inside in case of emergency.

Markyt

asea wrote: »

and kids should be taught the fear of the unknown otherwise there wouldn't be issues with kids talking to strangers or going out on their own now would there?

Fear of the unknown is exactly what caused the nearby residents to phone in the bomb threats, isn't it? Why teach your child to be like that?

new_mum_again

Thankyou to everyone who replied for this I have talked about it to quite a few of the mums and dads at the school and we will go together to see the head as we are all in agreement about the gates being locked.(Also as this is a multi culteral junior school there are a few mums concerned about the same thing that Asea said about in his/her comment) There are 3 entrances to the school grounds one onto a car park which is locked during school times anyway, one through the main door which once in you have to go through a security door to get into the actual school and the one that is left open.(and at least 9 doors leading directly into the school,Once you are in the perimeter fencing) So I am sure getting the children out in a hurry wouldnt really be a problem. The nursery school, infant and junior are really close together and apart from this one gate all gates into these are locked during school time.My daughter (5)goes to the infant school and I am quite happy for her to be locked in during schooltime there is no need for her to come into contact with anyone from outside of the school and if locked gates help to keep out people then fair enough.I didnt choose to put up the gates but if they are there then surely they should be used.

Biggles

I'm not sure what being a 'multi-cultural school' has to with with it - Asea's point was exactly the opposite, she was talking about a mono-cultural school.

But, in any event, the danger of many deaths in a fire is far greater than the faint possibility of some crank harming one child. Who's going to find the guy with the key in an emergency, or has he gone home for lunch?

This is really crazy and paranoid