Today, the President held a town conference on school violence. Much of the conversation centered around symptom versus solutions. As I was viewing, the majority of the content focused on "what to do after a violent outburst at school". As a culture, we still don't have the full grasp on this phenomenon and cultural decay.
There hundreds of 'reasons why this is happening'; bullying and teasing, attention grabbers for kids who are extremely lonely, media's implants on video games, music, television and the Internet, and the 'old school' peer pressure over parental guidance.
With all of the symptoms being multi-faceted, I'd like to focus on some common sense prevention measures - so we can protect the majority of our children who desire to live their lives to the fullest of God's intention.
We need more guns on campus, not less. Train and arm the principals and vice principals during the school day. The school is picked because the determined student knows that there is no opposition to his (predominately boys over girls) violent goals. Force these evil seeded kids with guns and adult muscle, and they will think again.
ID Cards for all visitors. In a New York school, you walk to the front office and your pictures is taken without being asked. The computer runs a background check through a national FBI database. When cleared, it prints a sticker with the photo and data for entry. There is only one door open during the school day, forcing all traffic to flow through this secured area.
I chose metal detectors over death. I know this bothers the parents, "we never had to go to school that looked and behaved like a prison". True. But we never had to worry about sex offenders, molesters and fellow student (or citizens) shooting up the classroom either. Time to protect the kids from death, there isn't much innocence left in today's culture.
Place surveillance cameras throughout the school and school grounds. It has worked in public, why not inside of public schools? How many fully matured rights do minors actually have?
Classroom swipe cards are a must, and I will buy large amounts of stocks in a company that can perfect technology that moves from a card to the student's fingerprint. It gives immediate attendance to the office and the teacher's desk computer. When an individual student needs to be located, you have the last location with a date and time stamp. And the cameras, and you have a wide grasp on the placement of each student inside of the school - and if they have left the building, you know when and through which door.
How about some new curriculum? Solve the bully problem with boxing class during PE. Place kids inside of an shooting academy class. Teach them what a gun can do, and how it feels to handle such properly. Incorporate the local court house and jail. Give them an up-close, and authentic tour.
These are a few ideas, I will be asking for more today during the show.
