There has been so much written and said about violence in schools that it is difficult to sort fact from fiction. Certainly we were all shaken last year by incidents of mass shootings in several schools across the country. The senselessness of these dramatic events led all of us to reassess where we are in preventing violence on campus. This has led to even tighter vigilance on the part of school leaders everywhere. This heightened vigilance is certainly important.
Parents have every right to expect that their children be kept safe when they come to school.
Certainly some of the crisis in confidence that we face as educators is due to the fact that our parents are fearful of their children's safety when they send them off to us. Therefore, it is important that we do everything in our power to see to it that order is maintained and discipline observed. It is difficult for children to learn in an environment that is unsafe and where they feel at risk. It is hard to keep staff on task when they fear for their own safety. Therefore, schools should be places where a high standard of behavior is expected, where rules are clear and enforced, and where everyone takes their role seriously.