NEW BRITAIN, Conn. — A community meeting in New Britain was held Tuesday night to discuss whether metal detectors should be added to schools.
In a survey by the Consolidated School District of New Britain, a majority of respondents reportedly said metal or weapons detectors should be installed in the schools—however, parents at the meeting indicated otherwise. School leaders said they wanted to hold the community meeting to be transparent.
"Whichever phrase you like, metal detectors have the likelihood to make students feel as though their schools are more like prisons than educational facilities," one New Britain high school teacher said.
New Britain school staff said that they feel like the detectors won't stop the violence in schools and that the main threat is dysregulated students who throw chairs and punches.
One parent said she believed mental doctors would catch things like vapes and drugs, which she believes is part of the problem with students.
"My daughter tells me [that] when she uses the bathroom, it's a lot of them in the bathroom," said Latavia Zeno. "They'll be on the stool part where you sit, and sitting on the sinks, smoking the vape [and] passing it around. And then they go back in the classroom, doing so much the teachers can't teach. The teachers walk out every year. This is non-stop every school term."
Other parents said there needs to be more conversations on how communities of primarily black and brown people and low-income communities are faced with criminalization.
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Kaye Paddyfote is a reporter at FOX61 News. She can be reached at kpaddyfote@fox61.com. Follow her on X and Instagram.
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