Since the Parkland school shooting back in February, many schools in Massachusetts have added new rules to help secure the school and safety of the students. Dr. Sullivan, the principal of Abington High School, said, “Parkland did draw attention to us.” These rules at AHS include no earbuds in the hallways and the restriction of door use.

The rule against earbuds in the hallway is a safety issue. If there was a safety announcement and a student had earbuds in, they wouldn’t be able to hear the announcement, which can cause problems. This rule has been in the Student Handbook (page 33) for many school years prior to this year, and the school has just recently pushed this rule as a result of Parkland.

The restriction of door use is to monitor the entrances so people who don’t belong in the school don’t come in. Before, anyone could walk in any door, even if they didn’t go to the school. Abington Police raised the concern that the school had too many unsupervised doors.

Students in the school have had varied opinions on these rules. Some students agree with them, while others don’t. Shayla Young (class of 2018) said, “I admire that the school is trying to get new tactics to keep us safe; however, I do believe that some of these rules are a bit exaggerated and make student life at Abington High School a little harder.” Young said that students should “go over more drills at school.” She feels that if a lock down or evacuation happened, “students would not know what to do, and it would cause panic.”

A student in the class of 2021, who would like to remain anonymous, said “In my opinion, I think the door rule is understandable because we don’t want random people coming in our school.” These new rules help promote our safety.

Some students think the school has no reason to take away headphones. However, Dr. Sullivan said that having earbuds does not allow for “a conducive atmosphere for education.” She added, “Teachers really struggle with the conflicts they have with the students” regarding students not following the rules, and “adolescents struggle with social skills and earbuds is one more thing that gets in the way.”

As for the door rule, Dr. Sullivan said the doors to the right of the front door and all other side doors “weren’t ever designed to be an entrance.” The front and gym doors have a small hallway when you enter the first door to save energy. Although the doors also save energy, Dr. Sullivan added, “It is not just for energy, it [the double doors] is for safety.”

Although some students do not agree with the rules, they are an aggravating necessity.