Editorial: Violence and Safety In Today's Public Schools (When Do We Laugh?)

This Article written by a hubpages.com Expert Writer.

Violence in today's public schools continues to be on the rise with no end in sight, and the unfortunate truth is that not all Columbines are going to be preventable occurrences unless safety measures are dramatically increased.

Much of this foolishness can certainly be attributed to the steady increase in violence in Modern culture today's children are subject to, and comes directly from their video games, shoot them up, BANG! BANG! Throw in the movies and television programs that are so popular with Modern society, not to mention what children listen to in their music, and you have some real winners strongly influencing today's youth.

Peer pressures added to all the stresses of the world around them, and the negative influences that constantly attack them, make these extremely difficult times for children, not only to live in, but simply to just go to school in, and for too many of them, feel any kind of safety in doing so at all.

The security measures offered by public schools should allow students to feel safe, and most often they do not. Parents who regularly check in with their children to bother to find out how they feel about their school's safety programs find out students who are more actively involved in helping to shape school policies are more committed to obtaining better educations for themselves. Parents who disagree with the school's safety measures set a real good example for their children by e-mailing the School Principle, or School Board, and voicing their concerns.

Students who feel threatened at school, or, on the other end of the spectrum, feel suffocated by school security measures, can have emotional barriers created between the quality of education received and themselves.

Three basic safety measures every public school should have are to beef up extracurricular activities which help keep kids occupied during some of the most dangerous school times, the after-school hours. Schools should allow Teachers and Teachers Aides to get more involved with their students and supervise them more in public gathering places such as parking lots, restrooms, and hallways, and schools should have programs in place for drug users including Counselors, Nurses, and referral programs for Professionals.

Because drug use is so prevalent in most public schools, random drug testing is a viable option as well. That is a very controversial topic, isn't it? However, it still remains the public school's job to protect kids while on their premises, even from themselves, by providing the best environment possible conducive to learning.

Metal detectors in public schools continue having a very low success rate and will not stop any determined shooters. A much better solution is for students to have adults they trust enough to tell them another student has a gun on school property. School personnel must make a concerted effort to better interact with students to build more positive relationships that include these necessary trust factors.

Parents need to understand that the percentage of public schools experiencing one or more random acts of violence hovers around 80%. 80%!, and still there are no mandatory Federal school crime reporting and tracking requirements for Grades K to 12 in public schools?

Believe it, or not, schools also tend to down play incidents of violence that happen in them. The School Resource Officer, or the local Police Department, can provide statistics on violent crimes in your children's public schools. Stay abreast and ask them for this information. That way you will know what is really going on in your children's public school lives.

Are public schools doing enough to protect students from violence, or, have they not gone far enough? That verdict remains to be determined.

A quick and easy Family meal children will enjoy after another hard day dealing with life at their public schools is also very simple to make, takes 10 minutes to prepare, and 27 minutes to cook. In and out, just like your kids.

Lil Rickie's Redskin Potato Salad With Steak Strips

(Coming Soon, by popular demand, Lil Rickie Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 pound small redskin potatoes, 3 bacon strips, 1 small chopped red onion, 1 pound boneless beef sirloin cut into thin strips, 5 tablespoons honey, 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cold water, 6 ounces baby spinach leaves, 1 cup halved grape tomatoes, salt and pepper to taste.

Preparation:

Place potatoes in medium-sized saucepan, cover with cold water, salt lightly, boil, simmer 15 minutes till tender.

In large cast iron skillet cook bacon crisp, transfer to paper towels, add onion to drippings, cook 3 minutes, add steak and salt, cook 2 minutes until steak no longer pink, transfer steak and onions to plate, keep warm.

Add honey to skillet, cook over medium heat 2 minutes, add cornstarch-water mixture, cook 30 seconds, remove from heat.

Drain potatoes, run under cold water, quarter potatoes, place in bowl with crumbled bacon and steak-onion mixture, add spinach, warm honey-cornstarch-water mixture, and tomatoes.

Toss gently.

Serves: 4