ATLANTA — This high school football season, the Friday night lights also shine a light on something else – increased security for the games.
“It’s football. It’s the south. Whatever it’s gonna take to keep kids safe,” said parent Lauren Waits at Friday’s game at Midtown High School in Atlanta.
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At Midtown High and every other field in Atlanta Public Schools, all fans must pass through a metal detector, and any bags brought in must be clear.
It’s a policy APS brought back for all games for the second straight season.
“It’s so sad that we have to do this, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to keep our community and our kids safe,” said Waits.
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Just this week, we saw problems in local schools, like fights captured on video at Rome High School, leading to the arrests of 16 students.
The Atlanta Public Schools police chief told me he wants to keep the violence out of his games.
“We also want to make sure that we keep out things that we don’t want into our stadiums, like guns, knives and other weapons,” said APS police chief Ronald Applin.
Henry County Schools also require clear bags for football games, while Cherokee and Hall county schools do not, but say plenty of other security is in place.
APS is exploring the possibility of expanding the clear bag policy to include bags and backpacks at schools. But Applin says he will get more feedback from the community before making that decision.
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