By Alexa Nogueira | Observer Contributor
Photo by Jennifer Lamontagne
In the wake of the Parkland shooting, many students across the country are feeling concerned for the safety of their own schools.
At the MWCC Gardner and Leominster campuses, students say that they do feel safe. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the least safe and 10 being the most safe), the average safety rating across both campuses was an 8. Many students, like Matthew Pierce, credited their feeling safe on campus to the presence of campus police. “I feel good knowing that there are police on campus,” Pierce said.
However, when asked if MWCC was well equipped for an armed intruder or similar emergency, some students felt that the college was not prepared for such an emergency. “I’m pretty sure all hell would break loose and no one would know what to do,” said Laney Jackson, who is among the majority of students who feel that MWCC is underprepared for an emergency of that nature.
Many students offered suggestions for improving safety on campus, the most common being the use of student IDs, increased police presence on campus, and armed intruder drills. Some students offered different suggestions, such as Michael Sullivan, who said, “I think if students and teachers possess a license to carry, they should be able to carry in a school setting.”
Another student, Dima Saadeh, offered a contrasting suggestion: “More security during the day and at night as well. Maybe set up a metal detector system in the entrances of each campus,” said Saadeh.
Individually, students rated MWCC’s Leominster campus a 7.5 out of 10 for safety, and the Gardner campus an 8.25 out of 10. The average campus safety rating among male students was 9.34, and the average campus safety rating among female students was 7.25.
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