Safety in our schools

[Suzie Dean]

Today my 7th grade daughter came home with a letter from the principal of Harding Middle School. It had stated that a student brought a knife into the school. The police were called, the locker and backpack searched, the knife was found and the student was arrested. (in a nut shell)

It bothers me that middle school kids think that this is acceptable behavior. I often wonder what goes through the minds of our young children. The way the society has changed from when I was growing up to now scares me. I don't remember guns and knives in school. I can only imagine how it is going to be when my youngest (3 years old) is in high school. I truly hope the individuals that will be running our city very shortly have plans to take action.

I've never been a fan of metal detectors in school but I am beginning to have second thoughts.

[Stephen Eisel]

It bothers me that middle school kids think that this is acceptable behavior. I often wonder what goes through the minds of our young children. The way the society has changed from when I was growing up to now scares me. I don't remember guns and knives in school. I can only imagine how it is going to be when my youngest (3 years old) is in high school. I truly hope the individuals that will be running our city very shortly have plans to take action.

Excellent post!

[Teresa Andreani]

I work inside Lakewood High School and have 2 sons attending there (and one at Garfield). I believe the schools have taken a number of reasonable measures to ensure safety -- requiring students and staff to wear photo ids, limiting morning admission to two entrances, posting appropriate security at the 3 entrances available throughout the day, regularly patroling the halls and perimeter.

I'm personally opposed to metal detectors. Our schools are community facilities, open many hours of the day. Our buildings (particularly the high school) have doorways in many locations around the perimeter. If someone wants to sneak a weapon in, it could be done after hours and hidden in a locker or elsewhere, or a student accomplice could open a door and let someone through an unsecured entrance. The reality is that there is no way for a school, or any public place for that matter, to guarantee 100% safety. IMHO, a metal detector does two things: sends the message that this is a place to be feared (which I don't believe it is) and gives a false sense of security. Irrational acts are committed by irrational people and it's everyone's responsibility to be aware and for a school district to do what it can to keep our kids as safe as is reasonably possible.

There are folks who opine that Lakewood High School (you can substitute nearly any urban or first ring school for that matter) is a scary place. I can tell you from personal experience that the school day is peaceful and that the vast majority of kids at LHS are there to learn and to socialize and are generally pretty amazing people. I've been reminded by JOB and others of his era about the incident (a stabbing if I recall) that occurred in the 'smoking pit' in the 70s. There was never a similar incident during my four years there from 78-82, nor has there been while my children have attended. And I don't think there was much clamoring in the early 70s to lockdown the high school. I'm not naive and I realize that times have changed somewhat, but I still believe Lakewood takes reasonable measures to keep all of us safe.

Regarding last week.. As I understand it, the threat last week was between a couple of individuals, not a general threat against the student body. The district took the matter seriously and, I think, acted appropriately, screening students as they arrived and asking that teachers keep students in class and out of the halls while class was in session. A crisis team was brought in, including counselors/school psychologists from neighboring districts. A space was available for grieving students to seek help. Counselors visited the classrooms of the deceased student and his sibling to offer additional assistance. Parents were welcome to sign their children out for the day if they felt that was the best course of action for their children. My own children attended class. Adminstrators from the central office were on hand to assist as needed.

All in all, I'm a satisfied parent and I feel safe there.

[Bill Call]

All in all, I'm a satisfied parent and I feel safe there.

You're a very sensible person.

Americans have become easily panicked. I'm not sure why.

[Shawn Juris]

To take a step back from this I think that two things are interesting. 1st is the idea mentioned about changing times vs this being the same as always. I'm sure that a lot of this is anecdotal as I doubt that this can be objectively analyzed. I thought of the song from the late 70's about the girl that shot students from her bedroom window and looked onto wikipedia which actually had a link to school shootings. This brings me to my 2nd observation, while the list was relatively short considering this is nationwide and spans back to the Brenda Spencer shooting that I mentioned all the way up to the Success Tech incident, there have been 2 that were in Cleveland. While there may be 40 or so big headlines in 30 years, 2 of the big ones were very close to home, very recently. I can understand why our local community would have a heightened sense of concern about this.
Both the high school and the middle school stories sound to be well handled overall. Not saying that they can't be improved but they seemed to be reasonable and in the recent situation confiscating a knife from a student's locker is what the school is supposed to do. Communicating it to the parents to clear up any rumors and stories seems again to be good protocol. Out of curiosity and for sake of clarity, were details released about the type of knife? Was this kid thinking that he or she was MacGyver or intending harm?

[Stephen Eisel]

Regarding last week.. As I understand it, the threat last week was between a couple of individuals, not a general threat against the student body. The district took the matter seriously and, I think, acted appropriately, screening students as they arrived and asking that teachers keep students in class and out of the halls while class was in session. A crisis team was brought in, including counselors/school psychologists from neighboring districts. A space was available for grieving students to seek help. Counselors visited the classrooms of the deceased student and his sibling to offer additional assistance. Parents were welcome to sign their children out for the day if they felt that was the best course of action for their children. My own children attended class. Adminstrators from the central office were on hand to assist as needed.

All in all, I'm a satisfied parent and I feel safe there.

Teresa, I have to agree with Bill Call on this one. Great post!

[Dee Krupp]

Did anyone happen to catch the episode of "Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?" with Regis Philbin last night? He told a story about attending a Catholic elementary school where he was praying in the beginning of the day kneeling in front of the teacher's desk and he pulled out a pen knife and carved his initials in the desk. One of the 5th graders was shocked, saying "you had a knife in school?" It was quite humorous because she really called him on it, saying "we're not allowed to have any kind of knives in school".....and this really is an example of how times have changed.

I bet boys carrying pocket knives or pen knives (don't really know what that is) was quite common back in the day. Did they really have to worry about such violence amoung young kids back then? I highly doubt it, and unfortunately it is getting out of hand anymore. It seems that's the only way kids know how to prove a point.

I, too, am curious to know what kind of knife the kid has..and what was his intentions. Hopefully it was just a cool pocket knife that he wanted to show off, and will now understand the consequences of his actions.

[Bret Callentine]

Dee,

Back in the Day?

I had a pocket knife in my book bag almost constantly, and I graduated high school in 1988.

It wasn't a "weapon" it was a tool.

[Dee Krupp]

Dee,

Back in the Day?

I had a pocket knife in my book bag almost constantly, and I graduated high school in 1988.

It wasn't a "weapon" it was a tool.

Unfortunately we're getting old enough that the 80's are "back in the day" as well!! lol I graduated in 1985.

[Justine Cooper]

Was the boy who threatened to bring the gun to LHS arrested? There are conflicting stories. I called around to siblings in other areas and it is common to have metal detectors in big schools. We have to go through them to get on a plane now. I don't perceive this as school being a jail, I perceive it as keeping the kids and staff more safe.

[Suzie Dean]

The letter that was sent home did not specify what kind of knife it was. Nor did it say if the person was using it as a threat. It did state that she couldn't give out more details because of the investigation going on.

As Justine said...I don't think having metal detectors is a bad thing. Its for the safety of our kids.

I too saw the episode of Are you smarter then a fifth grader. Thought it was kinda funny. My kids were watching it and had the same reaction as the girl did on the show.

Oh how times have changed!

[Vince Frantz]

I think that the sad part of your story is that there was a letter sent home about a young boy bringing a sharp object to school. It is sad that the school has to constantly prove itself in the face of media criticism. It is sad that the learning environment can be affected by this type of fear mongering - when saying nothing and handling it privately with the law, parents and student would have sufficed.

Suzie - you state that you fear for your 3 year old. The fact that this incident caused you fear is the sign of the times - not the knife in bag.

I feel sorry for the school principal - that they live in fear of a critical mediascape that jumps on benign incidents and turns them into security threats. The sad part is the reaction - not the incident. Kids did not create this environment but they are paying the price for it.

[Justine Cooper]

Vince,
I read Suzie's note again and I never read her criticizing the principal or the school. She is a mom concerned with yet another knife incident, not the first at Harding. She is concerned about the fact that children bring knives to school and why they do it. I never heard her criticize the school. This "media" outlet is what it is, and she wrote to express concern over the incident, that is what this outlet is here for. The principals do the best they can with what they have. But maybe they need more. And those opinions should matter because those opinions make a difference in that family's decision to stay in Lakewood or move. As taxpayers and parents of children in the schools, she and others still have a right to their opinions.

[Vince Frantz]

OH - I didn't think that Suzie was in any way critical of the school or the principal. I was just assuming that we all know why the principal had to send this letter home. If he didn't send it home - then rumor could turn into a bigger thing. I hope Suzie doesn't think that I saw any criticism from her of the school or principal. And I don't count her as the media (while this message board may be). But that her reaction to the idea of knives in bookbags would not have been the same in earlier times. Hence the Regis Philbin anecdote.

Many parents would have reacted to this letter the same way. The fact that we need a letter sent home is not because some enterprising principal started this tradition - but because school admin and faculty live in fear of "mishandling" any and all situations. They are damned if they do and damned if they don't. Because one kid brings a knife to school and now all kids are treated as criminals on the way in through the front door "for their safety". It's not the school I want my kids in. Metal detectors, armed guards, lock downs. This is common language among schooling these days and it is the sad part I am highlighting.

[Justine Cooper]

Sorry. I misread your post differently! Thank you for clarifying. I know some feel it would be a prison if we had metal detectors, but that is the way it is for most big schools, and airports everywhere. I don't know if it would make the school safer, but knowing anyone can bring a gun or knife in any day is scary. We already have a police car at the high school and guards anyway. I would not want to be an administrator myself during these times of school shootings and violence. I don't know what the research shows on metal detectors and other ways to prevent violence but can't help something different has to happen. The other incident could have turned out far worse and we are lucky.

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.