School or Prison? By: Tom Bezek & Katey Seigel Sitting in the SRO office in South Brunswick High School, with walkie-talkies blaring, one can hear the play-by-play action of any given student, at any given time. While in the room you are easily distracted by the constant buzzing and feedback from the monitors which keep constant, hard watch over the students in this school. Hall monitors whispering locations and following students are broadcast over the system, so everybody is aware of each person’s move. South Brunswick High School is an institution based upon being the newest form of education. Everything is brand new, from the televisions in every classroom, to the auditorium fit for a multiplex movie theater. South Brunswick has state of the art technology and is really a grand site to see from the outside. The complex brick work and expansive lawn amaze all those that pass by. It can easily be mistaken for an office building, but that show does not mask the true identity of the school from the insider’s perspective. South Brunswick High School doesn’t even feel like a high school at all. In actuality, it has more of a jail feel to it. You’re rushed in and out of your little cells every ninety minutes with a short lunch break in between. Food or drinks are not allowed in your cell at any time and any disruptive behavior will not be tolerated. Leaving your confines will not be permitted at any time without the proper pass. You are kept in jail until 2:20 by armed police guards patrolling the halls or circling the grounds in their marked cars. If these guards don’t catch you then the lackey hall monitors, who are paid to catch prisoners in the act of a crime, certainly will. According to our SRO officer, Officer Charmello, “they’re watching you to make sure you’re safe.” The reasons for the “lackey” hall monitors and officers are to make sure that everything goes as planned and that there aren’t any random crisis’ or issues to be dealt with Rather than a disciplinary measure, they are here as a preventative measure. Howe ver, no matter what the real reason may be, the outcome is still the same of less freedom and people constantly lurking around the corners and over your shoulders.There is no escape from South Brunswick High School. If there is a disturbance in the ward, then you will be brought before the warden for your sentencing. The floor you are stationed on determines which warden you will go before. You can be brought in the by one of his henchmen sent to escort you to his chambers, or by a more formal police guard armed with a utility belt full of weapons. You won’t be tortured, or put in a dark hole like in a real jail, but we do have our own forms of punishment. In school suspension is a lesser form of the famous black hole used in many Hollywood dramas. Being confined in a small room for six hours, silently and uninterrupted, is a lot like that black hole, don’t you think? Even the classrooms and cafeterias are set up like a juvenile detention center. The tables and chairs are set up in a way where the inmates can all be seen by the guards, while they still have a chance to watch a few moments of television placed high above their heads. The warden’s henchmen stand at attention inside and out, armed with their patented walkie-talkies. Even the classroom doors, which are made to lock when closed, are similar to the juvenile detention center. While Charmello says that, “I’m not here to create a police state,” just that is done. Sitting there in full uniform does not exactly enforce the idea of friendliness and a non-police atmosphere. Anyone who has seen the school and the officers in it can understand what I am talking about. The similarities are uncanny, and I don’t doubt that was an accident. Yes, the school is brand new, with all the state of the art technology, but it has been built to keep us inside and learning at all costs. We are not allowed to leave for any reason, we are forced to learn at all times. Even bathroom breaks can be regulated if the teacher so desires. As you wake up in the morning and catch that paddy-wagon to school, be ready to have a police officer, and his gun, greet you. Be ready to face a day of dodging hall monitors and guards, all to get your precious education at it’s unbearable cost.