It’s 8:40 am on a Friday. Just a 5 minute walk from Jay St MetroTech, you can find high-schoolers heading south on their way to school. Students hike up the concrete stairs leading to the red doors under the stone sign that states, George Westinghouse High school. There is a long line this morning that stretches from outside on the block all the way to the inside of the lobby. You can hear the occasional teeth suck as they watch another kid hold up the line to go through the metal detectors.

Metal detectors are a huge part of Westinghouse culture, quickly blending into the lives of students and staff. The practice of rechecking pockets and belongings, before stepping in front of one of these devices, lodges its way into the minds of kids as soon as they begin high school.

This is a story about my friend Rojuiana and her incident with the metal detectors that almost landed her in prison and left a permanent mark on her school record. But there is even more at stake here.

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