School Violence Summit

President Bush held a summit on school violence yesterday...in response to three school shootings in the last few weeks. I read an article which summarized what happened at the summit.

I thought to myself yesterday as I was thinking about the summit which was to take place...wondering what really can be done to lessen school violence and school shootings. I don't know what real solutions or answers I came up with...if anything I just thought up new questions.

The article summarized that the summit said that we need to combat school violence by taking bullying more seriously, practicing their crisis plans and talking to parents about what is going on inside their schools.

Okay...I don't have a problem with that, but I also feel is just skims the problem as well. I think school violence is more than just school shootings. I think the issue of school violence is huge...it encompasses so much more, especially in urban schools.

I would love a world where there were no school shootings...and I hope for that. But I also think that does not solve our school violence problem. Unfortunately...in poor and urban school...school violence is something that the students often deal with every single day. It isn't an isolated or random incident...much like the school shooting in the last few weeks...but it is an environment they live in everyday. There are students shooting...stabbing...beating up each other...and it happens everyday. It isn't something that makes the news and in many ways...no one notices. One gang of kids gets mad at one kid...and that kid ends up getting stabbed during lunch. Then...his gang of friends...targets those kids...and it goes on and on. In many urban schools...it is warfare in school..every single day. School is often never safe for those kids. We had an incident in a school in Albany...where one kid was stabbed and the community and the news reporters were outraged. You know what the kids said..."this happens everyday."

What is my solution? Sadly...I don't have one. But I know we have to recognize the problem. That these schools are underfunded...and that with money comes opportunity. This violence and the atmosphere around these students was not created yesterday...it is created in their backyards...in their elementary schools, etc. My initial gut reaction is to put up security features like cameras and metal detectors...but then again, I am not sure. I often think that if you make a school look like a prison...don't be surprised when your students start acting like inmates.

I don't know the answer...I really don't...which is shocking because I usually think I have a solution for everything. But I do think we need to continue talking about this...and about the whole picture of school violence and not just when something horrible like Columbine or the Amish shootings happen. Sometimes we are so fleeting in this country...we often have the attention span of bunny rabbits. I just think our children, their safety and their education deserve more than that.