It started last year around the end of the first semester. It was the biggest pain in the neck. The locked door policy enacted shortly after the Stoney Douglas high school shooting. Everyone was left asking, does it really matter?

With headlines surfacing fairly regularly of school shootings around the nation, it was only a question of when schools were going to take steps towards the safety of their students. Park High faculty had a school shooter training to prepare them for a real situation if one were ever to occur. The doors were another safety measure, along with the camera at the front doors, allowing the office to let people in and lock people out.

During the middle of October, the school had security professionals come in and evaluate the school and how safe it is in its day to day operations. All of these security measures have been put in place to protect everyone in the school. But again, does it matter?

The simple answer is yes. Although it is a bit of a pain in the neck to walk all the way around to the front of the school, I would say it’s worth the walk for that small safety measure.

Even as a small 7,000 person town in the state of Montana, we have had threats and scares at our school. Although nothing has ever happened, how do we know that Park High isn’t next? Stoney Douglas didn’t know they were next. Nobody knows when their school is going to be next. It doesn’t matter what your demographics or percentages may be.

While it may be inconvenient and there may be loopholes that could be exposed, it’s a step in the right direction. With the way things are heading, safety is going to be a growing concern. The school is trying their best to adjust, and the inconvenience is only a small price to pay for their attempt in keeping us safe.

The policy, as most Park High students are well acquainted with, restricts the entrance to students or other members of the public through any other door besides the front door, and if one comes in through the front door during school hours, they must be let in once they ring the newly installed bell on the front door.

I personally believe that this new policy is very inconvenient, but only for the students, the people who this facility was built for. The teachers have no changes in how they enter the school no matter the time of day due to their door cards. But for us students, it’s a large inconvenience in the aspect of time.

At lunch time in years past students were free to exit and enter through the side doors. Now, upon one’s return from lunch, they must go all the way to the front of the school