And when kids have access to guns, there can be trouble. There may be ways for outsiders to help keep school violence on the decline, and perhaps to prevent the kind of inexplicable act that left two students dead at Santana High. There is talk of legislation to protect student whistle-blowers. Others will, and should, press for tougher gun laws. It's not necessarily part of your job description, but good teachers know that listening is one of their most important roles.
Schools are their own communities.
Creating a civil community doesn't start in Washington or Springfield. It starts in the classrooms and corridors of the school. And yet, sometimes, the people who run these communities can seem to be blind. Here's one case. Small for his age, he has to be escorted to and from school by his foster mother and caseworker.