Safety in our schools

[Mary Breiner]

Thank-you to Theresa Andrienni for her well written post about LHS and safety. I agree with her completely. My older two children have come through LHS with a great education and have moved on to college. My youngest is a 9th grader there now. I think my children's educations have been enriched by the diversity and numerous opportunities that have been afforded them at LHS. It is the real world and they have learned from all their experiences there, including attending classes with children from all different religions, cultures, backgrounds and economic levels. They are not naive to what the real world is all about. Unfortunately, we all hear and read about the negatives that happen at the HS, but we know from our experiences that the vast majority of the kids at the High School are hard working and dedicated to their studies.
Thanks Theresa!

Mary Breiner

[Vince Frantz]

As for kids bringing knives to school, I know this won't be popular, but they are not all violent kids. Some have been bullied and they bring a weapon for that reason. Some are neglected at home and do it for attention. Many don't know the real danger of weapons because of the violence in movies and video games. I still say the more preventative education we can provide, in diversity, domestic violence (some kids are violent because that is all they learn at home), conflict resolution, bullying (making bullying uncool at a very young age), is worth more than any action after an incident.

Now THESE are the real issues at hand. Wouldn't the school/community make changes to address these root causes? Would it not be proper to understand completely each and every individual student's home life and current and ever changing needs? I don't think public school is prepared to address those issues when the forces for consolidation and summer vacation get in the way.

In other words - putting more kids in one school verses breaking them apart into smaller neighborhood schools (regardless of class size). Maintaining the status quo: where teachers teach grade levels instead of following each student for 3-8 years at a time. There are many changes that could be made to address these external, social issues that would make the learning environment more resilient and preventive without treating the entire population like prisoners in a day camp.


But for now we keep getting ideas like this...

Photo IDs on teachers, parents, and students - because there are too many to keep track of.

Bigger schools (but with small class sizes) because we need our tax dollars to go farther?

More specialized teachers - instead of teachers that become part of the family.

Metal detectors, armed guards, lock-down drills, etc.

My mother, sister-in-law, uncle and many friends are public school teachers at rural, urban and sub-urban schools. They are ALL dealing with the same issues now. Most people would agree that there is just nothing to worry about at all. That the kids in our schools are great and the richness of the education would only be richer if these fear-driven policies where just gone!

Sidebar...
I graduated in 1992. Throughout high school, people routinely brought weapons to school. They brought pocket knives and rifles. Not hidden away. But displayed on belt clips and in pickup rear windows for all to see. Of course I went to a rural school. But we had child abuse, domestic violence, violent movies, etc. in the community. But there was not a sense of fear like there is today. So if the weapons are DECREASING but the fear level is rising... what is at the center of this? This is bigger than a school issue.

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

when the learning environment is disturbed then everyone loses.

teachers can't teach and the good students can't learn when you have kids skipping class in the hallways or kids talking in class or being obnoxious.

It's funny that when I was in school the past four years, especially my last two with the new dress code and such, I was absolutely against it. Well, against the hoodie part. Now that I've graduated I'm all for it.

I think students fear going to school. There are many students that fear going to school because of bullying, punishment, tests and missing homework assignments, I don't think adding the fear of not being safe is a good thing at all.

There are many things to fear about school. 99% of kids are under such high pressure to perform that it crumbles them. I speak from experience. School is not the same now as it was 6 years ago when my brother graduated from LHS.

I think the pressure to conform and the pressure to perform is what's getting to these kids. The other fears, such as bullying and punishment, are what drives kids to commit senseless acts. When these kids are already in school and hate being in school to such a degree that it makes them unstable, and then you add bullying, failing grades, pressure, punishment, humiliation by teachers, AND problems at home, you get school shootings.

I don't mean to make anyone feel sorry for the kids these days but the pressure is sometimes unbearable. Many, many students have to seek counseling and get help with dealing with this kind of pressure. A lot of the students don't.

[Justine Cooper]

Ivor,
Very good post. I do feel sorry for kids today! I think the peer pressure and the pressure from new guidelines of standardized tests are a lot, like you mention, and when you throw in the fact of dysfunction at home, who knows how it will manifest itself in a child. Drugs, sexual promiscuity, violence, dating violence, conduct disorder. Teachers have an incredibly difficult job these days, trying to teach the standardized testing material in spite of any and all emotional issues each child brings to the classroom. I also think the schools in Lakewood are excellent, in spite of everything, and have always posted on that. That doesn't mean I will always agree on how they handle every situation. The single most important factor in why we bought our second home in Lakewood instead of moving somewhere else was because our son was doing well in the high school and I love the diversity for all the children. That's not to say when my first grader comes home with comments "writing is too messy" I don't think "Dear Lord she is only in first grade". But they expect so much more from our kids at such an earlier age, we just have to help them as much as we can.

There are times, however, when parents opinions differ from the school board. For example, the closing of Franklin and how it was handled and how many parents went to meeting after meeting to keep it open. Or the parents the battled with the school board to lesson class sizes for Kindergarten-in that case they won both times and the result is much better for the kids and the teachers. Sometimes, differing opinions on school situations can lead to better outcomes.

[Ivor Karabatkovic]

I think the peer pressure and the pressure from new guidelines of standardized tests are a lot, like you mention, and when you throw in the fact of dysfunction at home, who knows how it will manifest itself in a child.

don't forget pressure from parents, because kids do want to impress their parents the most. Nowadays kids are doing good in school not because it affects their future, rather it makes their parents proud of them and back off a bit.