by Mel Southworth

A couple months ago, I gave a presentation to a grade eight English class, on the work of CPT and the Israel/Palestine conflict.  I tried to describe the situation there in a way they could relate to using the following scenario:

One year ago, a boy brought a knife to school and immediately after the incident, the principal released a statement to the media that he would increase security measures at the school.  Days later, the school administration decreed that all boys must go through a newly installed metal detector before they could enter the school building. Today, the screening process can take up to three hours; school starts at eight o’clock.  Girls do not have to go through the detector; they can enter through the back.  The administration also mandated that boys and girls must attend separate classes and if a girl is suspicious of a boy, she is allowed to request that a teacher search him for weapons.