Fire alarms are only necessary for emergencies and aren’t meant to be played around with. The importance of a fire alarm is to detect a fire and alert others that there is a fire. Since the beginning of the school year, Parkdale has had a few incidents where fire alarms have been set off for unnecessary reasons.
The intention of having a fire alarm is to keep us safe, not used as a practical joke that could put many people in danger. The alarm being active is causing the Parkdale community to rethink whether it’s an actual emergency or if it’s someone messing with the alarm yet again. With no indication from administration on if the pulled alarm was from a real emergency, a student pulling it, or a monthly drill, most of the Parkdale is left wondering who is responsible for setting off the alarms.
Activating the fire alarm affects varying students in different ways. It will pose challenges for those with special needs, including individuals that use wheelchairs, as it hinders the ability to exit the building promptly due to management they face. Because elevators are not supposed to be used during fire drills, students in wheelchairs who are on the second floor are forced to use contraptions that help them down the steps. This is a useless and daunting task when the fire alarms are because someone has pulled it.
Moreover, it will be affecting class hours considering it takes time out of the school day by spending roughly 10 to 15 minutes outside getting outside and then back inside the building. If the alarm sounds during third period lunches, this could then cause the extension of lunch periods, affecting the remainder of the day.
Sophomore Daylee Hernandez says the alarm being set off affects her and makes her second guess whether it is an actual emergency “because the fire alarm keeps on going off and afterwards they announce to disregard it and go back to class.” Not only does the fire alarm affect the people in school, it also does affect the community. As a community we should take accountability in order to prevent any further difficulties.
Regarding the learning environment, the activation of the fire alarm can impact teachers and students.
“I feel like the fire alarms disrupt the learning environment for both teachers and students,” said English teacher Ms. Stephanie Stewart. “The disruption leads to time that cannot be recovered due to students struggling to get back into the learning environment.”
However, this wouldn’t be the issue if we only used the fire alarm during a real case emergency.
Each month, schools are legally required to practice a fire drill in case of a real fire happening. Fooling around with the alarm can bring much trouble to those who pull them when it is not necessary. In the past in a southern county in Maryland, a student faced up to five years and a $5,000 fine for pulling a fire alarm at his St. Mary’s County high school, according to thebaynet.com.
Fire alarms should only be pulled in case of an actual emergency. And people should be considerate of their actions. If someone is willingly to pull the fire alarm without knowing the consequences they should think twice before they act into doing something they’ll regret later on.
