When you send your child off to school, you would like to think that they are safe and protected.
In the last decade, school security has boomed into a $2.7 billion market. More safety measures have been put in place in schools across America โ things like hiring security guards, enforcing transparent backpacks, and monitoring studentsโ social media accounts have all become the norm.
However, as one mom demonstrated, perhaps schools are tightening security in the wrong places.
Itโs all very well that schools are taking more measures to protect our children, but the unfortunate reality is that simply limiting access to school grounds is not enough.
A woman named Casey Garcia had a sneaking suspicion that the security at her daughterโs school in San Elizario, Texas, wasnโt up to scratch.
So she decided to do a little detective work to see exactly how the school operated for herself.
Casey decided to do a little โsocial experimentโ and film all her findings. She posted the video on her YouTube channel, where it has received more than 800,000 views in just six days.
People had mixed reactions to Caseyโs video, with some saying that she did it for attention. Others, however, praised her for forcing her daughterโs school to evaluate its security measures.
In a follow-up video, Casey even recorded the moment that the police arrived at her house to arrest her.
So, what did she do that was so controversial?
Casey decided to infiltrate the school โ but first, she needed a complete makeover.
She dyed her hair dark, applied spray-tan, and donned her 13-year-oldโs yellow hoodie and glasses. Her plan was to disguise herself as her daughter, Julie, and go to school in her place.
It was a crazy plan โ but could she pull it off?
Casey, who is 4 feet, 11 inches tall and weighs 105 pounds, posed as a teenager by wearing glasses and a black mask to cover her face. She pulled Julieโs hoodie over her head.
โOK, Iโll talk to you guys once Iโm inside,โ she says to the camera. โDo I look like a seventh-grader? No? Cool, awesome.โ
She held her phone low in her hands and discreetly recorded everything that happened.
The video continues and the mom can be seen walking through the schoolโs halls, greeting the schoolโs principal, and attending her daughterโs classes! She says that she feels really nervous and is sure sheโs about to get caught.
At one point, she even gets lost and asks for directions, but nobody has caught on.
โIโve been here all day, face to face with teachers,โ Casey remarked quietly while she ate her lunch without a mask on. How could nobody have noticed that there she was an adult woman posing as a teenager?
Indeed, Casey made it all the way to the seventh lesson before she was exposed.
A teacher realized that Casey wasnโt who she said she was, so Casey was forced to walk to the principalโs office and turn herself in. Shortly after, she released another video explaining why she did what she did.
โI didnโt do this to ruffle any feathers, I didnโt do this to out the school, because I was never going to say what school district or what school it was, they put that out there themselves,โ she said in the video.
She emphasized that she didnโt impersonate her daughter for the โlikes.โ
โWe need better security at our schools, this is what I tried to prove, and I donโt mean to be curt but I kind of feel like I proved it,โ Casey said.
She also said that she simply checked into the school with her daughterโs ID number. She had made her point.
The next day, Casey was arrested for criminal trespassing and an unrelated traffic violation but was released on a $7,808 bond.
Watch her conduct her โsocial experimentโ in the video below.
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