On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold unleashed a torrent of carnage and mayhem at Colombine High School that left an indelible mark on America’s conscientiousness. The destruction left 15 dead and 24 wounded; and a new era in protecting our nation’s schools emerged with the stark reality that school violence could unfold anywhere, at any time.
Initially, there was absolute pandemonium as educators, law enforcement officials and parents attempted to make sense of this horrific tragedy and ensure our children were safe while attending school. Schools throughout America were installing security cameras and metal detectors and employing armed patrols to combat another school atrocity. As time passed, this diligence waned and many schools refocused their efforts on improving test scores.
Fortunately, a school shooting is an aberration from a statistical standpoint; however, schools throughout the country are dealing with assaults, arsons, drug use, thefts, weapons and bullying on a daily basis. We certainly want to be prepared for the unimaginable; but it is paramount that we continue to focus on these other issues, which are far more prevalent within our schools and are often overlooked by the general public.
A comprehensive safe schools campaign includes components for training and education, reporting, assessments and communication, interventions, response and recovery efforts. Many school districts have made cursory attempts to make inroads within these components, but are still not adequately addressing the myriad problems within our schools.
During this past school year, two Snohomish County school districts experienced high-magnitude school safety incidents. The Marysville School District had the unimaginable occur on Oct. 24, when Jaylen Fryberg opened fire on his friends and classmates. Later in the year, the Everett School District experienced their own tragedy when a middle school student took her own life and student and parent protests ensued to raise awareness about bullying in the Everett Public Schools.
In speaking personally with students, parents and educators from both of these incidents, coupled with reviewing media accounts and district policies and procedures, it is readily apparent that there is a complete dichotomy in how these two districts approach their school safety issues. The Marysville School District handled their incident in an exemplary manner to the extent that they could be viewed as a model for districts in the future. Conversely, the Everett School District seemed to have been at an absolute loss as how to move forward on these issues. There was a complete lack of meaningful communication with parents, students and staff and the press. Moreover, there was a lack of direction and they did not adhere to commonly accepted school safety protocols.
I can speak directly to this issue because my own children experienced bullying while previously attending Everett schools. When I attempted to confront this behavior, I was met with administrators that simply were not versed in the best case practices to eradicate these bullying behaviors and did not seem to comprehend the toll that bullying can exact on children and families. Unfortunately, I have heard far too many parents voice these same concerns.
School safety is an integral component within the educational process; because if our children do not feel a sense of security, they will not have the freedom to learn. It is time for all parents, taxpayers and government officials to have an expectation that our schools will take all reported bullying seriously.
Scott Young is an adviser on school safety and youth violence issues and lives in Snohomish County.
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