The Bluffer - Red Bluff, CA
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/586719
Page 2 October 16, 2015 Staff Editorial Safety of high school campuses... Opinions Editorial Policy: Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the district, staff, or student body. We welcome signed letters to the editor. Names may be withheld upon request. We also reserve the right to edit submission based on length and/or clarity. THE BLU FFER STA FF Tymberlyn Bealer Editor-in-Chief News Editors Tymberlyn Bealer Ceighlee Fennel Kaylie Capps Kourtney Sanders Opinions Editor Britney Miranda Julissa Villalobos Features Editor Lexi Pritchard Sports Editor Becca Frey Sophie Cumpton Topics Editor Ceighlee Fennel Editor-in-Chief Julia Liebert Advertising Director Alisa Pelanconi Adviser Cartoonist Katelyn Stewart Staff Writers Brianna Tackmier Joe Mills Amy Becerra Mary Herrera Abby O'Sullivan Shania Prieto Taylor Nguyen Skyler Drew A-&-E Editor Amy Becerra Staff Writer Copy Editor Stefanie Brunello At Red Bluff High School, safety of the students is an overall priority of the district. Recently there has been an incident where a student brought a fake pellet gun onto the school campus. There was some hype about it, and a recorded message sent to the students via email by Mr. Barriga. However, little action has been taken to remind the students of what to do in the event of an actual school campus shooting. We know the drill. When the sirens start going off, the teacher locks us all into the classroom, we dive under our desks and stay as quiet as possible. We, the Bluffer Staff, have a few problems with that procedure. Locking up the classroom is a good idea and a good first step toward ensuring student safety; however, we have all seen the "brilliance" of our school's "Lock Blok" technology. The teacher would need to take the time to make sure the door is actually locked before shutting the door, which is time the teachers wouldn't have in the real event. As for students diving under the desks, let's face a double truth: a) the shooter can shoot out the lock and, b) the desk isn't going to do anything to protect the students. There is no way the desk will magically move in to block a bullet going 1,700mph. Diving under them won't prevent a bloodbath. Realistically, the shooter knows there is almost certainly people behind each door. As students, we are essentially sitting ducks in the real situation. An idea that has been brought up to the Bluffer staff that we would like to share is to have the students stack the desks to create barricades by the door. By making these desk barricades, school shooters would have to do more than just bust through a locked door to kill or severely wound students or staff. We suggest these barricades because while a fence around the school would be nice, we face the reality that our campus is too big and the farm/track area would just complicate the fence matter anyway. Also, fences are almost on par with the ridiculousness of students diving under the desks because we have all seen or heard numerous ways to go over, under, or even through a fence. We understand our school's take on safety, but as a whole we have found that their take on safety should be strongly reconsidered, taking into consideration drills should better simulate real situations. Skyler Drew Staff Writer Facebook's privacy issues disappoint F acebook is a widely used social media website headquartered in Menlo, California. The website was first launched on February 4, 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. At first, this website was limited to Harvard students only but later expanded to other colleges, and soon people all over the world were using 'Facebook'. It has millions of users and can be accessed from anywhere with internet. 'Facebook' does not cost a thing to sign up and talk to anyone all around the world. It was used at first for college students to keep in touch. Now it is used anywhere from talking to a family member across the country or a friend across the street to selling and buying things. 'Facebook' has changed a lot over the years. Users would be angry and upset at every change they made. This is because the changes were so frequent no one could keep up. For a while, there was a rumor going around that 'Facebook' was going to start charging one dollar per message you sent to someone that was not on your "friends" list. That rumor died out as soon as people further investigated and realized that it was not true. 'Facebook' has very strict privacy settings. A person can go in and pick exactly who can and can't view things on their profile. Recently another hoax was released. It said that facebook was going to try and start charging people to keep their profiles private. The cost was $5.99 a month. While that's not a huge payment, it is still a lot to make sure someone doesn't see your things and activities. When privacy should already be guaranteed, the people making up these rumors are trying to get a rise out of 'Facebook' users. Privacy is already a given on almost all other popular social media sites. I, for one, think these 'Facebook' hoaxes are silly and should not be acknowledged. 'Facebook' has addressed years before that some might try to use these scams to get money. This a very awful way to get people to send in money. They are playing tricks on innocent people and taking advantage of them. I recently found out this was a trick, and it wasn't real. Also, 'Facebook' is highly technologically advanced and why they are not stopping people like this, is beyond me. It is disappointing to see things like this, but in today's society, I can believe it. Unhealthy eating and exercise habits of children becomes problem of whole family Shania Prieto Staff Writer Staff golf cart endangers students on campus T he 2015-2016 staff at Red Bluff High School is coming off as extremely hypocritical this year. It's mainly on issues regarding that dreadful golf cart and how it's allowed by the staff to go flying around the hallways. There is no speed limit for that speed devil, and the drivers take advantage of that. There are some staff that takes the safety of the students into consideration and try to drive at a reasonable rate, but for the most part, some go speed crazy. I've witnessed an incident where a student was walking around a corner and a staff member, who was driving the golf cart at an unreasonable speed, was going down the hall and almost hit the student. If the student hadn't jumped back in time, it wouldn't have ended well. Several others and I agree that it's not fair that the staff can drive their golf cars around at high speeds, but students can't carefully ride their skateboard or scooters around. The school and just about every adult I've met try to promote healthy living, yet our staff is allowed to take it easy and drive around. I understand it helps if they need to get somewhere fast, aka a fight, but as a daily thing that some staff has used to harass kids is not the proper way to use it; it's a privilege, not a right. I get that they need to use it for something that requires speed, I understand the golf carts make their jobs easier, but not at the risk of a student's health and care. If they were to be safe with it then it would be easier to understand; however the staff is taking advantage of it, and it's not just harmless fun, they could harm someone and face serious consequences. Besides, the money they spend to continuously give it power costs even more. Students are suppose to feel safe and protected here, but how can they feel that way if there's a constant hazard of getting run over by a deranged driver. at both situations together, we could put the blame on both the parent and the child. They both play a role in the unhealthy eating of the kid. The child would stay healthy if you just feed them healthy food. Don't force them to eat more than they can, and don't let them buy unhealthy food. during dinner, or even buying or taking snacks from friends or nearby stores. Some people blame the parent for the horrible eating habits of the child. The parents usually control what the kids eat at home. Too many fast food dinners and not enough fruits and vegetables can really take a toll on a child's health. Even if the family is eating healthy, home cooked foods, urging the child to eat everything on their plate can also have a negative effect on the child's health. Families that don't exercise are very unhealthy. Looking C hildren are able to choose most of their aspects of life, but they are also influenced by parent's choices. When unhealthy eating becomes a problem, who's to blame? The parent, the one who could possibly be buying the junk food for the child, or the child, not stopping the u n c o n t r o l l a b l e urges to eat unhealthily. The unhealthy child controls what goes in their mouth, so obviously the one to blame is the child. They could be taking snacks when they aren't supposed to, eating a little extra "When unhealthy eating becomes a problem, who's to blame?" S o recently at Red Bluff High School there has been some problems involving the office staff, the student store, and the counseling office. Within this school year alone I have seen what I consider bullying of students as well as some of the staff (such as the clerk in the student store) done by certain members of the office staff. This has included trying to implement new course material onto the TA's of the student store and the counseling center. The office staff has also questioned or hinted at the dishonesty of the student store staff. This has created a very hostile environment between the principal (Ron Fisher), the main office staff, the counselors, the student store, and all of the previous party's teachers assistants. Today was the last straw for a few other people as well as me. After constantly being under surveillance by a new supervisor/ secretary in the office, I can't deal with the things the office is putting everyone through. Today the student store clerk was told that she was too open to having students in the student store on our free time. This is irritating because the teens who do hang out in the student store, are positively influenced regarding school and life, we aren't going out like multiple other teens who go out and fight and neglect illegal subtances, and possibly jeopardizing their futures. The student store continues to maintains a happy environment where we feel comfortable being. Since when did actually caring about other people become a negative thing? But we do go to a school that doesn't let the students know that there is a teen on campus with a gun that is a self proclaimed gang banger until after school through email. The only people who knew why there were police officers in tactical vests knew only because the saw him being detained. So please share this if you don't like what's going on because there is no way the administration will see this unless it gets spread, thank you! Submitted by: Cameron Perdue Letter to the Editor