North-American School Looks Like a Prison

Safety first - know also Dutch teenagers

Translated from
Wegener Dagbladen 11 december 1999

To the toilet during a class? This is only permitted with a special pass, signed by the teacher and a validity duration of merely some minutes. Schools in North-America are heavenly secured. It is not possible to take a bit of fresh air during the pauses, nor leaving your place in the canteen during the lunch. 
Safety First, know Dutch teenagers who have been at a North-American high school.

These students have been here [in the Netherlands] via the YFU International Exchange. They react to the school shooting in Veghel [the Netherlands]. There, a 17-year-old boy has shot five people. Shortly thereafter, the Ministers of Justice and Education said placing of detection gates against the possession of weapons was debatable. According to the 'exchanged' students, this could be the first step to a situation such as in the USA, where schools look like prisons.

Marjolijn van Olst (16, from Hattem), who was at a high school two hours from Pittsburg, was frightened when she met a system that looked more like a prison than a school. Once at school, she wasn't allowed to go out during the whole day. Hanging around in the corridor was taboo. 

"You must have a special pass to go for two minutes to the toilet. If you stay longer, you are caught. If you are caught on a place you are not permitted to be, you hang."

On the graduation party, the safely rules were even more rigorous. 

"Everybody had to go through detection gates because there were rumors that students from elsewhere would disturb the party. During the whole evening nobody was allowed to go out, not for a bit of fresh air, nor for a romantic time-out."

Nevertheless, Marjolijn does not see the safety rules as overdone.

"It is a scary idea, but it also provides safety. My parents were worried when they were told about the party. It was after Littleton, where have been 15 killed and 22 wounded. You must realize such things suddenly may happen, thus sfety rules are necessary."

Sander Laban (17, from Deventer) has his doubts. During several years he has been on a high school nearby Washington. There were cameras, among other places at the entrance. Regularly, there were trainings what to do if threatening violence was announced. Laban had to be charged with every step outside the classroom. He had a spinbook in which patrolling safety agents could see if he had permission to walk in the corridor.

"This creates the atmosphere of a prison. Maybe it is safe, but you feel locked up. That creates tension. It causes that students ask themselves where the limits are. By trying the latter, things may happen which are meant to be prevented by all safety rules."

Sander Laban has the opinion that the Dutch schools have to keep far from the North-American system.

"There are surely differences between North-America and the Netherlands. In the US, people are far more treated as a mass, as a herd. If one of them might do something wrong, the whole group gets safety rules. Here, in the Netherlands, we base ourselves more on each ones individual responsibility. I hope this will remain as it is."