Parents who have entrusted their children to these schools have a right to expect that the students will be reasonably protected from harm. Schools have an inherent responsibility to meet that expectation. Second, the safety of our children while they are in school must be ensured so that their full attention can be given to the process of learning. At the very least, violence in schools is a serious distraction. However, none of these changes will do any good unless we meet certain basic conditions.
Schools have to be safe and classrooms have to be orderly.
Without that, reforms are nonsense. Recent research on the interaction of brain chemicals and stress has proven that children whose energies are needed to deal with fear and danger are physically unable to deal with the learning process and may even suffer permanent brain damage. Schools must provide an environment, which is both safe for and conducive to learning, or that learning will not occur. Finally, the issue of school safety is directly linked to the preservation of the Jeffersonian concept of universal public education. It is difficult to envision a true democracy, which does not embrace this concept, yet it seems to be increasing jeopardy.