All of FCPS have FCPD Narcotic K9 units sweep schools, this past week the K9 units came to Annandale High School. Some students do not agree that the Dogs should have the right to search school grounds. They do not think about benefits of the searches. When school started all students signed the SR&R that gives the right for the County to have schools searched. The SR&R also says you cannot bring harmful and illegal substances to school. If it is in your locker the school has the right to search it. The searches may happen more than once during the school year. By the students not knowing when the dogs come and it may cause students to think twice before bringing these substances to school. Some people may feel uncomfortable with these searches, but if you do not have anything to hide, you should be fine with being searched. FCPS is trying to protect students from possible harm. Schools should be a safe environment for students to learn. By having these searches, kids can feel more comfortable knowing that they are being protected. The dogs search the school it is just enforcing the rules and wants to make sure they are being followed. In emergencies, police authorities will need to know where entrances are in schools.It is very important that they have test runs and drills to get informed about where things are in the schools. Also, they will need to know what rooms are which and how big there are in case there is a shooting. In the end, these drills and sweeps are only benefiting the students by making sure schools are safe and knowing how to stop major emergencies.

As students, in general, they feel that privacy is a basic right they are all entitled to. Having Narcotic K-9 units search our schools takes away that right. When asked about how students felt about these random searches, sophomore Eyob Mengistu said, “We shouldn’t have K-9 search our things like some criminals, because that is invading our privacy and we shouldn’t have to be subjected to that.” Some people may think that students dislike these searches because they have something to hide. However, students feel intimidated by how scary looking these dogs actually are. These police dogs are not only trained to find drugs, but they are trained to bark and or bite anything that smells or seems like a threat. Certain students at AHS feel that the need for dogs to search their things is unnecessary considering they know they have nothing to hide. When students are told they have to stay in the classroom during the sweep, they feel as though they have done something wrong. “If we have private stuff that we do not want anyone seeing, then it should stay that way,” senior Jashon Reams said. “I know I have nothing to hide, but knowing that there will be dogs and officers surrounding my things makes me uncomfortable.” Reams added. Yes, it is illegal to have drugs on school grounds, but should that be what schools are concerned about when schools are being shot up? “If we’re going to have dogs searching our things, they might as well be searching for something that will actually harm others,” sophomore Leslie Moriba said. “Personally I believe that schools should be more concerned about students bringing weapons to school considering school shootings have become so common.” Moriba added.