Michael Goldsmith is grateful to have his summer back. Experts say the presence of adults outdoors before, during and after school can help make children safer. Two boys, ages 11 and 13, set off the fire alarm at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Ark., then opened fire on students and teachers as they filed out of the building. When it was over, four girls and a teacher were dead. Ten others were wounded.
Children can be the warmest, most loving and sensitive creatures on Earth.
They also may be very cruel, concedes Green, director of admissions and development at the Gibson School in Redford. Ask a parent about the first day of school. Don't be surprised if they describe the house as quiet. When all of the kids go off to school, even the youngest in the family, parents have an adjustment to make. There are no distractions, no whines, not even the familiar lull of Nickelodeon in the background.