30/09/2026
๐ญ๐ฌ๐จ๐ป๐ผ๐น๐ฌ: ๐๐๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ญ๐๐ฌ
| Hannah Edz Gwyneth Dichoso
A student passes through the school gates as the campus slowly fills with footsteps, unfinished conversations, and the rustles of bags and paper. In the familiar noise, small changes can be easy to miss. A voice grows quieter. A conversation ends before it can finish.
Beyond the noise of an ordinary school day, some things go unnoticed.
For students, safety can begin with what they usually see: a guard at the gate, an ID around the neck for identification, and a bag being checked before entering. But what beyond these visible measures can be harder to seeโwhether a student feels comfortable enough to raise a concern, whether someone notices when something changed, or whether there is someone to turn to when a problem does not go away
Maybe this is where safety takes on another meaning. Itโs not only about being protected from harm, but also in the everyday spaces where students learn, speak, listen, and live alongside one another.
๐๐๐ฒ๐จ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐
"Safetyโ may first appear in things that can be noticed almost immediately.
The gate marks the boundary between the school and everything beyond it. However, what happens within that boundary can look different from one student to another. For Vell, a 2nd-year BSED English major, the bag check just happened quickly. โAng bigat nung bag koโฆBinuksan ko kasi i-checheck sa gate, tapos susundutin lang naman pala!โ Vell reiterated that the bag was not even opened or checked further, it was only poked using a stick instead. The procedure lasted only a moment. What it meant to feel safe, however, could be harder to measure.
An anonymous survey was conducted for this feature, with 16 respondents from the City of Calamba, majority are students. The procedure lasted only a moment. What it meant to feel safe, however, could be harder to measure ranging from three to 10, where 10 as the safest. Their answers moved between what could be seen and what could be felt. Some looked to the gates, bag checks, and the people tasked with watching over the campus. Others looked beyond these measuresโto communication, approachable people, mental-health support, and spaces where students could feel at ease.
The ratings reflected different ways of seeing safety. One student who rated their surroundings a three questioned the consistency of bag checks, while another who gave a five pointed to visible security alongside the need for clearer communication and approachable people. Even the student who gave a 10 still identified bag checks as something that could add to their sense of security.
The numbers varied, but so did what students looked forโsome noticed security and harassment, while others pointed to communication and support. At the gate, safety can be seen immediately. But inside it, students experience it almost differently.
๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ง๐๐ ๐ญ๐จ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐
But safety can also be tested in the moments when students choose to speak.
Irish, a 2nd-year student, remembered a time when she and her classmates repeatedly raised an academic concern to higher-ups. They sent letters and brought the matter forward, waiting for a clear intervention. But none came. โSa sobrang drained namin, parang hindi na magsasalita kasi parang wala rin namang mangyayari,โ she said. After raising the concern several times without a clear response, the students eventually stopped pursuing the matter. The issue remained in the middle of being resolved and unresolved, whilst the effort to keep asking for an answer had become exhausting.
Meanwhile, other students described a different kind of hesitationโone that begins before a concern is ever voiced. Across the responses, the barriers often came down to uncertaintyโwhether they would be judged, understood, or taken seriously. For some, the expectation to stay โmatatagโ made asking for help difficult. Others were unsure where to turn, or wondered whether speaking up would change anything at all. Sometimes, the first signs appear before someone asks for help. One respondent said becoming quiet or distant can be overlooked as simply having a bad day. Another noticed changes in a studentโs routines and relationships.
In this space, trust becomes vital. Friends become the first to hear what is difficult to say out loud, with Zai, a BSED-E student, sharing, โvina-validate po nila yung feelings ko.โ For others, it is the teachers who become that person. Whether a student speaks up or keeps a concern to themselves can depend on whether the person they turn to feels approachable and non-judgmental.
๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฎ๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ง๐๐
During National Peace Consciousness Month, attention turns to the different ways peace and safety are experienced within a community. Sometimes, the changes that affect that sense of safety are easy to miss. A student who once laughed freely now sits quietly in the back. A friend who notices the shift but hesitates, unsure of what to say. Another starts missing classes, sleeping differently, or letting their grades slip. These are among the changes survey respondents said people may overlook when someone is struggling. A 2025 UNICEF Philippines report similarly documented young people who stayed silent when they were unsure where to turn or whether someone would truly listen, pointing to the need for spaces where they can speak.
The learner-protection measures, based on the Department of Education, at CCC include psychosocial support and early identification as part of keeping students safe. In this framework, peace can be understood not only as the absence of violence, but as the sense of safety that allows students to learn, speak, and ask for help. What happens at the gate is one part of that safety; what happens when a studentโs difficulty begins to show is another. A quieter student may be experiencing many different things, making changes in behavior difficult to interpret from the outside.
๐๐ก๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ฌ
At the gate, safety can be seen. Beyond it, safety has to be experienced and the signs are, perhaps, quieter. They may pass unnoticed in the noise of an ordinary school day, until someoneโs tracks stop to ask what has changed.
The footsteps still echo through the hallways, passing through the gates and into the noise of another school day. But the small, ordinary signs remain: a voice that grows quieter, a hand that stops rising, a message left unanswered, someone who no longer stays behind. These are the things that donโt make a sound, but somehow become the loudest when something begins to change.
Because a gate can only guard whatโs outside. Beyond it, the real measure of safety is not what the thresholds keep out, but what happens within.
Layout by Kyle Andrew Estrellado
