Last year, for instance, the city school district eliminated interscholastic soccer, a decision that has left hundreds of inner-city Latino and Asian youngsters with empty afternoons. At some schools, parents are stepping in to make up for budget cuts, patrolling school grounds and neighboring streets before and after school. In several San Diego city schools, parents wear brightly colored jackets and carry walkie-talkies. Unfortunately, the open design of some California schools makes it difficult and expensive to close them off. Currently, no San Diego city high school has a closed campus, though many county schools do.
School administrators are generally reluctant to consider metal detectors.
For one thing, campus design makes stationary detectors impractical for many local schools, although Sweetwater has considered the hand-held variety. But more important, officials say, the devices are far from foolproof and may actually raise the level of fear and tension on campus. They focus on the short term, not the long term. In fact, when it comes to permanent solutions to the problem of school safety, school and law enforcement officials agree that prevention is best. Since schoolyard fights often start out as rivalry over girlfriends or boyfriends or jealousy of clothes and other belongings, these schools have found that peer intervention can be more effective than adult interference.