EDITOR’S NOTE: Evening Sun reporters love to argue. The sides taken in this argument were chosen arbitrarily and do not necessarily reflect the true opinions of the authors. This week, Tyler Murphy and Jeff Genung debate whether there’s such a thing as “too much” security when it comes to our schools.

Our schools are spinning wildly out of control. Since 1992, 410 people have been murdered as a result of school violence. Out of those, 324 were gunned down in cold blood. If there is anything more horrendous than murdered children, I don’t know of it. We should take all possible precautions to ensure the safety of our schools. Schools have had a long history of compromising individual rights for what is best for the student. Anyone who went to school knows that when you’re there, certain behaviors and actions that may be appropriate elsewhere are not allowed. Such things as free speech and freedom of expression have been limited to help create an atmosphere of better learning and study. Safety should be a far heavier concern. No compromise is worth more than the welfare of a child. Metal detectors, police dogs, badges, harsher punishments and even random checks should be made part of all public schools. If in the future more drastic steps are needed, then they should absolutely be taken. – TDM

Security is one thing, fear is another. While I certainly agree that every measure within reason should be taken to safeguard the well-being of our children, I’d rather not have our children raised in an atmosphere of fear and oppression. Ideally, students – especially in the younger grades – shouldn’t be aware of hard-line security measures at all. Schools can be relatively safe places – as our tests last week proved – without metal detectors and barbed wire. I’d rather see us concentrate on teaching our children how to handle their own aggressions with words instead of fists than to see our efforts placed on drug-sniffing guard dogs and patting-down backpacked 4th graders. – JMG