SMN’s Brightest – The SROs

Take a second to think. You see the SROs roam our halls, making sure things are running smoothly. SROs monitor lunchrooms. SROs ensure parking spaces are kept up to code and tickets are enforced. SROs handle violence and theft complaints. Their job? Safety.

Recently, I heard several students complaining about police and how unjust they are. They complained about how students are not any safer than they would be without these fine men. They ranted about their personal encounters with these officers, making outrageously false and stupid claims of things that all sane people know never happened. They claim brutality. They claim ignorance. They claim stupidity. They claim disloyalty and unrighteous mediation. As a student, I would like to make my own claim: you don’t know what you’re talking about.

When your job is to put your life on the line for the safety of others and you were bred from the American Justice System, I trust you have a justified reason for all that you do because there is a good chance you wouldn’t have your job if you didn’t. To say that three armed men over six feet tall don’t keep you safe is about as outrageous a claim as saying that you’re not protected from 20 mph winds in a concrete box.

Your personal encounters with cops are biased because you’re a teenager and, not to generalize, there’s a fairly good chance you made a rash and illogical decision that landed you in the presence of law enforcement. Brutality is simply an untrue testimony. I’ll admit I’ve been unsure of the work these men put in, but that was before I actually understood what they do. I have since realized that any dissent or questioning is dubious and completely uncalled for. These men deserve and have 100% earned my respect, and I want to apologize for only giving them half of the respect they deserved prior to my revelation.

These men are at North as long as the school is operating. If, God forbid, things went awry, these men are not only brave enough to put themselves against danger, they’re trained to do so. Even for the most disrespectful and insubordinate student, they would still put themselves in front of harm’s way for them. And you walk around the halls and spout your hatred because…? Because it looks cool? Because it’s funny? Or because you don’t know what you’re talking about?

We as a student body do not deserve the safety these men provide, yet they do it day in and day out. Through your dissent and personal attacks, they are the men that protect you.

So wake up. Right now. We are the generation that must change the way people see cops. For every one bad cop (and there are no bad cops at SMN by the way), there are a solid 500,000 good cops. That’s a pretty good ratio compared to the number of students that don’t graduate and do.