Parkland student: Going to school ‘feels like jail’
A Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student said the increased security measures her school is taking in the wake of February’s mass shooting will make going back to school following spring break even more difficult.
Isabelle Robinson — a senior at the Parkland, Fla., high school — said going to school is hard now and is “going to be so much worse.”
“A lot of the people I’ve talked to are dreading going back,” Robinson told CNN.
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“It feels like being punished … It feels like jail, being checked every time we go to school.”
When the Parkland students return this week to school after their spring break, they will be allowed to carry only clear backpacks on campus.
Students at the school will also be mandated to wear identification badges while in school, according to a letter sent to families last month by Superintendent Robert Runcie.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) is adding additional law enforcement officers to the school and the district is “exploring options for consolidating points of entry for students and staff to include utilizing metal-detecting wands and potentially installing permanent metal detectors.”
The new measures are being implemented in response to a February shooting that left 17 dead.
Since the shooting, students have become vocal advocates for gun control, demanding that lawmakers pass new gun laws to prevent future shootings.
Last month, hundreds of thousands of people marched in cities across the country to protest gun violence and call for action.
Many Stoneman Douglas students attended the “March For Our Lives” in Washington, D.C., on March 24.
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