School shootings, ICE threats, religious differences, political divide, academic pressure, and the overall school climate are just some of many challenges students face as they walk into school every day.
The average prevalence of students who felt unsafe at school according to the National Library of Medicine was 19.4% and ranged from 6.1% to 69.1%
Gabriela Escobar, the Director of Climate and Culture at Lane, defines school safety as “students coming to school and feeling safe on the way to school, feeling protected by the community, and then also walking into the building and knowing that there are people in this building who are working to maintain their safety.”
When students walk into the school building one of the first things security tells them is to put on their ID, quickly followed by a reminder to put phones away and put bags in the metal detectors. When you’re at an airport the first noticeable thing, as you enter, are signs telling passengers to get IDs out and passports out. This is followed by security checkpoints asking people to put bags in metal detectors and phones and devices away. The only true difference between these interactions is that one gets you flying across the world while the other is the entrance to a school.
A Lane 10th grader, Chloe Cavanez begins questioning her safety especially since getting into the school building in the morning involves so much ruckus about backpacks. It evokes questions of why schools need so much security and if the buildings are safe in the first place. Cavanez said, “I’m becoming more uneasy since, even though we have metal detectors, I feel like there’s still a way to sneak contraband or whatever, like inside the building.”
School shootings have reached new heights in recent years with reports of violence continuing a trend of high rates. According to ABC News shots are being fired at schools in the U.S nearly twice a week on average. ABC News said, ”according to statistics compiled by Everytown, there have been at least 90 incidents of gunfire on school grounds in 2025, resulting in 29 deaths and 69 injuries nationally, according to the group.”
In today’s political climate, students may have to choose between going to school or staying at home based on one’s different ethnic, religious or racial backgrounds since students may begin feeling unsafe due to their views or orientation.
Noa Raisner, a freshman at Lane, said in school and public buildings she feels unsafe since she is Jewish. “A lot of people right now are hating on Jews, and sometimes in other places, and even in Chicago, it’s not safe for Jews,” Raisner said.
To make students feel safer, administrators are rewriting old security procedures for the safety of students inside and outside of the school building. NBC news reported that according to the members of the Chicago Teachers Union, in regards to ICE recently, “school staff members have organized teams to report and respond to Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity around their schools, including patrolling the area, keeping concerned parents informed and helping escort some families to and from school.”
Anyone can feel unsafe, but during this time Gabriela Escobar pointed out how people may feel targeted or scared for their safety.
“I feel like everyone is afraid, because if you’re putting yourself out and you’re uplifting a community that can’t do much to defend themselves right now, you know you’re putting yourself in danger, I think anyone would be scared, whether you’re documented or undocumented. It’s just a scary time,” Escobar said.
Lane Tech has a total of 16 security officers with one being Michael Smith, who is chief of security. Smith says they’ll do all they have to to keep students safe.
He fears violence in or around Lane, whether gun violence or suspicious personnel. “I know the day that I don’t have that fear, waking up or something in my mind of making the school space safer, that that one morning when I wake up and it’s not the first thing on my mind, I’m going to retire, because I know, that, I know I’m ready to go,” Smith said.
To make the school feel safer, security encourages everyone to wear IDs so they can identify anyone in case of an emergency. “I always say IDs are important, because if something happens within the school, I’m going to do it,” Smith said. “I’m going to do everything to the best of my ability to protect all the students. And if I don’t see you wearing an ID, you might accidentally get tackled in a situation that we never want to happen here.”
“I am always making sure security is checking IDs and, you know, walking around doing perimeter checks,” Smith said. “And one of my biggest worries is always not so much the people in the school, it’s people around the school.”
To make the school safer Escobar encourages students to talk to teachers or counselors if they’re struggling mentally and if needed reach out for help in the school community or outside of it. “I want to make it known, and I want to make it clear that I am a safe person for anyone who is going through something difficult, you know, whether it be immigration related or something else, and I will always do my best to try and direct someone that I am not capable of helping,” Escobar said.
Students are also encouraged to report sightings of suspicious personnel outside of school buildings, this being especially clear with a safety notice that was presented October 1st in advisory classrooms.
“Hopefully the kids that get to know me and our security team realize that we’re here to protect them and that we do everything to the best of our ability to make sure the students feel safe and welcome,” Smith said.
Students attend school to learn and recently times have been more rocky. “We’ve got 5000 people in the building if you include staff, students, and everybody together. So you know, if we’re all keeping this building safe, you know, we’re gonna do a really good job,” Smith said.
