By
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Homecoming, Winter Ball, Sadie Hawkins, Prom. High school dances are de rigueur in the United States. While the students excitedly ready for the dances – the date, the outfit, the carnation – parents often bite their nails from worry. How can I trust their date? How can I trust other students? Dances are not during class time, after all. They’re at night, when the wolves come out, right?
Due to safety concerns at high school dances, many schools now hire private security personnel for the event. Here is a list of ways security guards work to ensure safety is maintained.
1) Screen for alcohol or drug abuse. This is a primary concern for parents. They may or may not be aware of their own children’s alcohol or drug usage, but either way they will be concerned about other students’ usage. In particular, as much as drunk driving is campaigned against, it remains of particular concern to parents and students alike. Private security personnel are trained to look for signs of alcohol and drug usage at high school dances, such as slurred speech, unsteady gait, the smell of alcohol or marijuana smoke, and of course evidence of possession of illegal substances.
2) Prevent violence. Some schools have a reputation for being more violent than others, and therefore have regular security checks in place during the school day. But what about at night, at a high school dance? The violence threat is not immune just because it’s off-hours. In fact, it might be worse. Private security personnel can serve as entrance bouncers for weaponry checks and signs of violent behavior.
3) Break up violent episodes. At a high school dance, people come to have fun – to dance the night away. Imagine if two parties get into a tiff (Hey man, I had this dance with Charlotte) and it gets violent? Security personnel need to step in to remove the fighting parties from the scene, and to restore order for the party to go on.
4) Crowd control. Most schools allow only their own students, and one guest each, to attend a high school dance. It is not an open affair for anyone. Private security personnel can check student ID’s and verifying the one-guest-per-student policy. In addition, they can slow the entry and exits of large flocks of people, in order to prevent attendants trampling one another.
5) Be an intermediary. Depending on the situation, and the laws covering your jurisdiction, private security personnel can serve as intermediaries between the students and parents, and the parents and police. In some cases, security guards can simply call parents if the students appear to be out of line with alcohol/drug abuse, violence, or other illicit reasons, which could assuage a need to file a police report. If the school is required to report illegal actions, parents would of course still be called in as the students’ guardians.
A high school dance is meant for good times, not safety lapses. Therefore, hiring private security guards for high school dances is recommended for preventing and/or handling any behavior that is disruptive to the dance. Party on!
