Preventing School Violence

By Bill Emerson

Moderator Minneapolis Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton opened a January 27 session proclaiming that “violence in schools has not stopped” despite the Conference’s much-acclaimed Action Plan for Preventing School Violence now two years old. Mayor Sayles Belton emphatically stated that it was not enough to hope and pray that violence will end, but to take many specific steps such as Pam Raferty and Judy Forney-Hantle had done as teachers in Heath High School, Paducah, Kentucky.

Panelist Teacher Pam Raferty presented the Heath High School story of violence where on December 1, 1997 a lone student at first took “3 slow studied shots, all deadly” then continued shooting leaving four others injured including one student being paralyzed. After this one life shaping event the small school of 650 students will never look the same, according to Ms. Raferty. She discussed how the community working together as students, parents, teachers & school administrators have taken the following measures in all 11 of the county’s Middle and High Schools: (1) all schools have a Resource Officer who usually has a counseling and law enforcement background, (2) all students, teachers & others were ID tags, (3) faculty check all book bags and make sure that the bags go directly to the lockers, and (4) all schools have hot lines for students to confidentially report potential problems. She concluded that all these measures were environmental made to make you feel better but that they really can’t prevent it, if someone wants to do violence.

Fellow Heath High Teacher Judy Forney-Hantle told the session what was learned in the aftermath of their tragedy, that there are no absolutes, no guarantees and no solutions. However, the preventative process involved open communication where there are no bad questions and students are encouraged to come to us (teachers) when they feel threatened. She listed measures taken after their tragedy: (1) make sure that emergency access (for ambulances, etc.) to the school is not blocked by parents or others, (2) there is a triage kit in every school, (3) have nurses on the staff, (4) train everyone in first aid, and (5), practice disaster training.

Following this up, Eugene Mayor Jim Torrey discussed the lessons learned after the Thurston High Incident where on Thursday May 21, 1998 lone gunman Kip Kingle killed both his parents (after they took his guns away the day before), then opened up shooting in Thurston High’s cafeteria killing 2 students and wounding 22 more. Mayor Torreys central point was that local government officials (and everyone in the community) should avoid turf or territorial issues when working to prevent school violence. Some have argued that since most mayors are not directly involved with school administrations, not being represented on most school boards, that they are only involved after the violence erupts and their police force is involved. Mayor Torrey said that everyone should be involved with seeing that the emotional content of the schools is supportive, and now all Eugene’s schools have full time counselors. According to Mayor Torrey, educators are targeting those students having trouble with reading and writing skills early in their studies, because later these same student often fall behind in their studies, drop out and join gangs where abusing alcohol and drugs often lead to teen violence. Torrey said he favors peer mediation and conflict management, often using the points made in Steve Covey’s “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

In turn, Arthur Linder, the Principal of Oak Hill Academy in Laurel Maryland said that as a community we need to keep engaged in a dialogue, listen more than we talk and keep students involved in their schools. Principal Linder emphasized a number of intake procedures, since Oak Hill is a Washington DC Correctional Institute that is used to prevent school violence by having kids make the right choices for their future. When working in Cardoza and Anacostia Highs, Principal Linder implemented measures to make sure weapons did not get into the school by: (1) security searching of students, (2) using closed circuit monitors, (3) not allowing students to leave the campus during lunch time, and (4), fencing in the schools to be closed to the outside. Linder then introduced Patrick Andrews as a Oak Hill student who has turned his life around by making the right choices by being in group and individual counseling sessions with fellow students who all made wrong choices that landed them in Oak Hill Correctional School.

Mayors Sayles Belton and Torrey invited Patrick to tell his story about how to avoid situations leading to school violence. Patrick pointed out that at Oak Hill the teachers and counselors are always in our face, asking, what is going on in our life? Patrick recognized that he had a substance abuse problem before being sent to Oak Hill where his group counseling sessions helped after he shared his past experiences. Patrick says that is no longer so self centered as he was before he received so much attention from teachers, counselors and fellow students. He emphasized that educators and the community should show students how to study for jobs that will make them money, because that is the main thing that students want is money to buy things and they will study if they think it will help them earn money.

In a question and answer period:

Pawtucket  Mayor Jim Doyle asked Patrick why money was the most important motivator for some students. Patrick said that growing up in the ghetto, you didn’t have money to get the things you wanted such as clothes, food and other things because at my age money moves everything.

Pleasantville  Mayor Ralph Peterson asked Patrick if summer jobs were not enough and that often their parents or the community does not care. Patrick replied that students really need money for cloths and food and summer jobs were not enough.

Colton  Mayor Karl E. Gayton said as a former teacher and football coach you needed to be visible and know your students especially since his community is a highly transitory small city located near Los Angeles. Mayor Gayton cited the example of the little known choir boy becoming a towns first murderer, as a reason to know your students.

Manchester  Mayor Bob Baines stated that after being a teacher for 30 years he is appalled by much “political rhetoric” he hears now about just building more schools. Mayor Baines emphasized that communities build schools, not government funding programs, and pointed to the Eunice Kennedy Shriver’s School in Baltimore for teenage pregnancies where you have a community of caring. Patrick agreed stating that “If kids know you care, you can do anything.”

North Lauderdale  Mayor Jack Brady, said that he retired as a teacher in 1996, but said that he started the first Chartered High School sponsored by the municipality. He commended Patrick for taking a negative (background issue) and making it into a positive approach.

Mayor Sharon Sayles Belton summarized the meeting as establishing four themes as the consensus of opinion. The panelists and audience believed to minimize school violence, the local communities needed to: (1) communicate well, (2) start early on assessing and boosting student’s self esteem, (3) ensure that students learn to read and write in their early years, and (4), to be prepared prior to the emergence of school violence. First of all, the students, parents, educators and community need to communicate well. Secondly, educators, parents and the community need to make students feel good about themselves and have a positive sense of self worth to face the future. A third approach is to have low scholastic achievers identified and assisted before potential problems arise — all to often, students with low reading and writing skills get behind and drop out of school and join gangs abusing alcohol and using drugs and end up being steered toward criminal behavior. Parents, teachers, the school administration, the police, elected school boards, the mayors and the whole community should be involved in educating our children properly and avoid situations leading to school violence.