Firefighters seem to have embarked to Galileo countless times in the last couple years for false alarms due to students pulling it to disturb classes and have “fun”.
Whenever I hear the fire alarm go off, I automatically get annoyed because I know that it is probably nothing serious. The fact that I have to got to the field in the cold, waiting for so long is just wasting my time when I could be finishing my assignments in class and not have to do it for homework. In some cases, I’m even late to class because of the traffic in the hallways and staircases.
Many students who are taking school seriously are in their classes, trying to maintain focus and be educated while a few think it’s funny to bother the whole school which is taking time out of everyone’s schedule for absolutely no reason. I realize that some students pulling the fire alarms aren’t students enrolled in Galileo, which means there’s no way to contact parents or give them any consequences, but I feel that there is a need for more security and better watch systems to keep an eye out for random students disturbing the learning at Galileo. .
Not only do these random students disrupt the entire school, but also the firefighters who are trying to do their job and are forced to come out to school for no reason other than to turn off the alarm. It takes up time from their day that they should be spending assisting others who genuinely need it.
Just a week ago, on December 7, 2023, firefighters headed to Galileo once again in response to a false alarm that had been pulled by students. Just as everyone is heading to the field, the alarm suddenly stops. Nobody knew whether to head back to class or down to the field since everyone was confused. Some faculty announced that everyone needed to go back to class, while other said we had to evacuate, which left everyone irritated and frustrated.
Thinking back to ast year, there was another incident where the fire alarm went off 5 times in one day. By the end of the school day, students were angered and frustrated that the fire alarm could go off that many times in 1 day. Personally, I attend classes to learn, and it’s annoying that I have to waste my time by going back and forth to the field.
Setting off the alarm without cause already carries a fine and suspension, but I believe there can be further consequences involved. Maybe they should perform community service as well. Serving the community can help people become more conscious of their actions and experience regret. Hopefully, they will take the lesson to heart and realize how others feel about the circumstance.
Whatever the consequences the school might add, it has to be severe enough where students are scared of what might happen to them if they do it. Right now, students aren’t worried enough because the school isn’t putting much thought to the consequences. They aren’t as harsh as imagined, otherwise students will be afraid of what might happen to them if they do pull the alarm.
