Every day, millions of students across the country step foot inside a school. In recent years, the threats against safety in schools have been on the rise. Schools are left with the only option to tighten security for the safety of their students.

Recently, new lockdown alarms have been installed around the school. Once pressed, the alarms will alert the campus police, the local police department, and everyone within the school.

“I think [the lockdown alarms] are pretty useful because you can pull them in case of emergencies,” Maria Gonzales (10) said. “The police will respond quickly instead of having to call them and make noise.”

Although the school continues to install more lockdown alarms, some students have begun to question the effectiveness of these alarms.

“My thoughts about the lockdown alarms are a bit worrisome because you’re also announcing to the shooter that we’re aware of them, so they can become more cautious about the situation they are in,” Phuong Tran(9) said. “Shooters are usually not thinking straight, so they will act even more recklessly with the sound of an alarm.”

When pressed, the alarms will ring across the school, allowing students and teachers to hide in classrooms.

“They are useful in ways that they alarm the students and teachers to take the safety precautions,” Tran said. “I would like to see them not be in the hallway if they’re there, and place them in restrooms and libraries so everyone can be alarmed except for the shooter who is roaming in the hallway.”

Since the installation of the lockdown alarms, students now have a safer option for warning the rest of the school about intruders.

“Before, we had to run and find a teacher to tell,” Gonzalez said. “Now, you could just go to the hallways that have the alarms and you can get to safety a lot quicker.”