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School Shootings
The spate of school shootings in the last three weeks has to be a terribly upsetting thing for parents and more so for children. How does a child go to school when they hear about so many students being killed by students and adults? It is almost an epidemic and we don't seem to have the vaccine for this one.
What you say to your kids and how you say it also has to be on the minds of parents and school authorities. Do you turn schools into fortresses with doors being monitored or closed circuit TV to the local police station? How could anyone possibly man all these posts? The task seems daunting.
One thing we find in common in all these shootings; guns. All the perpetrators used firearms and the latest used an automatic handgun. Do we need to consider who has access to guns and whether or not a license has to be issued yearly along with evidence of mental stability for a gun? This is one thought.
The sad fact is that anyone is potentially capable of this type of an attack and our schools, for the most part, are vulnerable. Our children, therefore, require more attention right now and parents need to come together with school authorities to formulate a plan for each school district. No one wants to do this, but our children need more of a sense that there is a plan in place.
I have always been in favor of children having either cell phones or pagers with which they can contact their parents or get help. I do understand that schools currently feel this is an impediment to classroom order, but that doesn't mean kids shouldn't have them. The school rules need to be clearly defined and kids need to be asked for their cooperation. Asking kids to cooperate is decidedly different from telling them they can't have these devices.
It's also the time now to offer more comfort and continue dialoguing with your kids on their concerns. Talk to your children about what to do if something happens at school. Remember that schools, the environment within the school and the administration are very powerful forces for safety. Rules about who may or may not come into a school, how angry outbursts will be dealt with and how to better manage anger are all important.
One thing we've seen and we may see it in the Lancaster, PA shooting is kids being made fun of or bullied. Some of these wounds go deep and last a long time. There has to be zero tolerance for violence, bullying or anything else that makes a child feel insecure.
Related Topics: Portrait of a Psychopath, Bullying Increasing: First Boys, Now Girls
Technorati Tags: school shootings, school violence, guns
What you say to your kids and how you say it also has to be on the minds of parents and school authorities. Do you turn schools into fortresses with doors being monitored or closed circuit TV to the local police station? How could anyone possibly man all these posts? The task seems daunting.
One thing we find in common in all these shootings; guns. All the perpetrators used firearms and the latest used an automatic handgun. Do we need to consider who has access to guns and whether or not a license has to be issued yearly along with evidence of mental stability for a gun? This is one thought.
The sad fact is that anyone is potentially capable of this type of an attack and our schools, for the most part, are vulnerable. Our children, therefore, require more attention right now and parents need to come together with school authorities to formulate a plan for each school district. No one wants to do this, but our children need more of a sense that there is a plan in place.
I have always been in favor of children having either cell phones or pagers with which they can contact their parents or get help. I do understand that schools currently feel this is an impediment to classroom order, but that doesn't mean kids shouldn't have them. The school rules need to be clearly defined and kids need to be asked for their cooperation. Asking kids to cooperate is decidedly different from telling them they can't have these devices.
It's also the time now to offer more comfort and continue dialoguing with your kids on their concerns. Talk to your children about what to do if something happens at school. Remember that schools, the environment within the school and the administration are very powerful forces for safety. Rules about who may or may not come into a school, how angry outbursts will be dealt with and how to better manage anger are all important.
One thing we've seen and we may see it in the Lancaster, PA shooting is kids being made fun of or bullied. Some of these wounds go deep and last a long time. There has to be zero tolerance for violence, bullying or anything else that makes a child feel insecure.
Related Topics: Portrait of a Psychopath, Bullying Increasing: First Boys, Now Girls
Technorati Tags: school shootings, school violence, guns
