Safe Schools Through Teamwork

When a teacher friend called me upset, I listened and casually made soothing comments to calm her nerves. By the end of our conversation, she responded rationally while I could barely control my emotions.

As a retired teacher and administrator, I understand frustrated students and struggling parents. Life is not perfect and sometimes situations heat up and words are exchanged. However, in the end there should be interventions, a meeting between all parties, and a plan developed for the future.

Anxiety, drepression, and mental illness can impact responses to any situation. Acting out is often a sign of distress, a call for help, especially when it is a youth. By addressing negation behavior, adults offer lifelines and teach survival skills.

During our phone conversation I learned none of this happened.

This is a brief scenario of events. During instruction my teacher friend/relative instructed a student to do something he didn't want to do, the young man stood up in the middle of the lesson and called the teacher a cunt - four times, yelling loudly. Immediately, the teacher called for security. Several minutes passed without security arriving and the student left the classroom.

The teacher found a peer to cover her class so she could report to the office what had occurred. Later when she returned to her room after helping with an unsuccessful search, the student was sitting at his desk. He said he had gone home to get something. Within minutes the bell rang, and students were dismissed. Nobody other than my friend seemed to follow up with the student on the situation.

After demanding a meeting with the administrator, she was informed that the student would be returning to her classroom on Monday, the next scheduled class. However, he was sent home the day of the incident.

Interesting information:

• Student has portrayed violent tendencies in the past and is on a behavior plan.
• One part of the plan is that the student's backpack should be searched daily.
• The search is not being conducted because the school is understaffed and as the administrator pointed out, "There are 1800 students in the building."
• A teacher's request to have him removed from the class was denied.

The reality of this event is frightening. In an age where school shootings are a reality, adult personnel continue to live in denial or proceed without significant interventions because their hands are tied, and they feel powerless.

I have walked in the shoes of both the teacher and the administrator. However, I never isolated a teacher with a potentially violent pupil. Yes, resources are short but if educated adults possess rational thinking skills and creative minds, alternative are available.

Many readers will wonder why this student was not suspended or expelled. Students have legal rights and protections that often restrict this avenue. Also, there is a strong argument that by removing a student from a school, it only makes retaliation more likely.

Suspension is short-term removal from the building that only prolongs the concerns. The positive with this action is that it provides time for administrators to develop a plan to keep all students and staff safe. Expulsion is removal for a semester, the remainder of the year or a defined period. This leaves a youth unsupervised and uneducated. Furthermore, if a student is on an IEP (individual education plan) or 504 (accommodation plan for disability), the law requires the student still receive educational services. This adds another hurdle to schools that are already struggling with resources.

More than once, audiences have watched news coverage of school shootings that quote people saying the shooter had caused trouble in the past, made a threat, was in anger management classes or showed dangerous signs. Often these students are on the radar. More often there was knowledge of their instability, but nobody knew what to do.

Think about it. A teen cannot be incarcerated for making threats. Every American deserves due process rights. All youth are promised a free and appropriate education. Education is supposed to help students learn to behave. Let's be honest, at all grade levels, kids enter rooms with behavior that do not fit social norms, and often they are supported by parents who can't accept their child's flaws. We don't want a world where the fate of our children is determined by one action. However, as I sit here and type, I also don't the person on the other end of the phone conversation, someone I love, to return to a work environment where she feels unsafe and unsupported.

Parents, guardians, teachers, administrators, all stakeholders must be informed. There are no easy answers but there are problems to address. Complaining and criticizing will not implement change. The "Just Do It!" slogan won't work because schools are restricted by laws and policies that are out of their hands. Become a concerned citizen and work to make change. Call your legislature.

Arguements and agression will not solve the problem; dialogue and education can create positive changes. Ask questions of teachers, administrators and if anyone posts a question to me I will do my best to respond. 

Also, look for future articles about addressing needs of special education students, developing behavior plans and threat assessments, and intervention strategies to support students. 

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Many adults do not understand why youth are troubled. I remember my father saying, "Kids do not have it any harder today than when I was a kid." This is not a point I can argue, but I can share my experiences from 34 years of teaching. If you are interested, you may wish to read my book, Lockers Speak: Voices of American Youth.