In March, the survivors of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, returned from Spring Break to a new set of security measures. Perhaps the most notable of these new measures is a requirement to use a see-through backpack.
Based on what I’ve seen in numerous news articles and social media posts, many of the students feel violated. They are not convinced this security measure is effective, and they now have a constant reminder of what happened at their school and of the permanent impact it has had on their lives.
This is understandable. Privacy is an important part of our mental well-being. There’s a reason we go to therapists, aside from their counseling training. We know that what we tell them is staying in that room. Imagine if you could never close a door. Imagine if you could never be by yourself or keep anything to yourself. What if all your text messages and journal entries were public record? You would feel so exposed and possibly emotionally unsafe.
These students deserve privacy. High school is a hard time as it is. These kids have been through more trauma than most people experience in a lifetime, and most of them aren’t even old enough to vote.
However, there is a certain aspect of life I believe is more important to mental well-being than privacy: safety.
If we don’t feel safe, we cannot hope to function at our highest capacity. While having a clear backpack may be demeaning, as we often carry personal items, it is safer than an opaque one. Many athletic stadiums, including Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, have implemented clear bag policies. If a bag is larger than a certain size, it must be transparent. This is not because the university does not value privacy. It is to prevent people from having things they should not have.
Think for a moment about what you do when you hear a noise and are afraid. You cannot see what is going on. But, when you open the door and see it was just a branch falling or someone next door dropping their keys, you feel safe. It is often not enough just to be pretty sure everything is fine. It feels so much better to know for sure.
With these backpacks, we can take a step closer to knowing. A common way people who suffer from anxiety or panic attacks talk themselves through it is acknowledging that what is happening will not cause them physical harm. This situation may be stressful, but it will be OK.
We live in a time in which children go to school and don’t know if they will be OK. Someone could be trying to hurt them. With this particular measure, school officials and police officers have one extra method of ensuring this is not happening. This can drastically decrease anxiety and fear in both students and faculty of high schools. They can focus on learning and living, not worrying about what could be hiding in someone’s bag.
So, to any high school students who feel violated by these clear backpacks, I can completely see where you are coming from. You are almost adults, and you have been through tragedy and lived through it. You certainly deserve respect. But even more than that, you deserve to be safe.
You deserve a secure environment to grow and learn, and right now, those making decisions are having a hard time deciding how to do that. I hope they figure out something better and more effective for you. But for now, this is what they’re doing. I am sorry it has to be like this, but it is done with your safety and mental well-being in mind.
Taylor Cavaliere is a UF journalism and psychology junior. Her column focuses on mental health.
