Threats, bullies, and drugs are issues that can make students feel unsafe at times, but how safe do students feel at Atlantic High School?

Pluma Pross said, “I feel safe, but I don’t feel the high school is safe because I’ve heard of the drug use here. There isn’t really a place in the high school where I feel safest. Teachers know what to do when a certain situation happens.”

Kayla Mauk said that she does not feel safe at school because “there are many people that get caught with drugs and we just had a gun threat.” Mauk said that bullying isn’t a huge threat it and isn’t a major part of the high school.

Both Pross and Mauk feel safe in the school parking lot, however Mauk is nervous about reckless driving.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, between 2001 and 2015 the percentage of students ages 12–18 who reported being victimized at school decreased from six to three percent and also the percentages of students who reported theft went from 4 to 2 percent and violent victimization from two to one percent. While there was no pattern of decline in the percentage of serious violent victimizations, the percentage in 2015 was lower than in 2001. 

Principal Heather McKay and Guidance Counselor Michelle Huber said that they have a serious concern about the drug problem in AHS. McKay said that she is “scared because there is so much at risk for the students. The youth makes things hard to catch. The invincibility the young people have is scary. It’s terrifying.” McKay said that bullying is a minor problem at AHS. “There are too many inaccurate definitions of bullying,” McKay said. McKay said that the parking lot is the most dangerous place for AHS because students are always distracted and in a hurry. Overall, McKay and Huber feel that AHS is a safe place.