When times can be uncertain, and school shootings are a result of more than just students, an idea that has been brought up sounds like something that has become needed.John Stilp, Vice President at the Oak Creek Campus, recommended that faculty should wear identification. The idea according to his secretary, Caryn Doring, comes from the fact that many students are returning adults, and in times of emergencies students may not know whom to turn to for help.
So, if faculty would wear some form of identification, students would readily know whom they could turn to.
This idea is so good that it should be more than just a recommendation, but implemented at all campuses versus just at Oak Creek.
If achieved, students would know who to ask for anything from simple directions to serious assistance in cases of real emergencies.
But why stop there?
There are a number of incident reports which have non-students causing problems, and even using the computers that current students could be utilizing.
In one report from last semester there was a non-student sitting at a computer drinking a bottle of wine from inside a bag. Wouldn’t this space be better utilized by a student working on homework, or getting help?
A way to prevent this could be requiring students to wear their IDs. By wearing our student identification cards, we could be easily identifiable, allowing Public Safety an easier way to know who is a student and who isn’t.
Perhaps non-students walking around blending in could be responsible for the recent thefts, including from lockers at numerous campuses.
By requiring students and faculty to wear identification, Public Safety could then approach those not wearing IDs and see if they are here to do actual MATC business, or if they are here causing problems.
I have spoken with various women who have complained of groups of men harassing them. The men would ask the women for their name, but once they showed a lack of interest or stated they had boyfriends, the men would become aggressive.
I have actually witnessed this. One young woman was simply talking on her phone while walking down the hallway. A group of young men walked passed her, trying to speak to her.
She ignored them. Then they proceeded to call her names, and insult her.
Who knows if these men were actually students? If there were some kind of identification, we would know. Perhaps if these men were actually students who knew their names were out in the open, they wouldn’t have acted like that in the first place.
Students wearing identification could even help name those who are acting inappropriately.
The point is we are living in times where criminals are becoming more brazen then ever. This isn’t saying that MATC is anymore unsafe than anywhere else.
The reality is no place is “safe.” Doing everything we can to try to protect those who work and attend classes here is just in everybody’s best interest.
It’s just us doing what we can to protect ourselves versus waiting until it’s too late.
