Just a thought...
A recent article in the Herald & Review opined that there is no sense of urgency in the Decatur School Board to deal with violence in our schools. While we at the DPS Chalkboard believe that any violence in the schools is too much violence, we would like to pause and look at two things:
What is the role of the School Board in dealing with violence? Certainly, it doesn’t need explicitly stated that the Board is against violence - we all know that is a fact. But, besides the board setting an overall anti-violence tone for the district at large, isn’t it the role of our paid professionals - the administration - to deal with violence?
Additionally, we feel the first step in the process should be to gather data regarding violence in our schools. Is it increasing or decreasing? We don’t know but feel answering this question is a very important first step the Herald & Review and anyone that wants to have a serious conversation about violence in our schools should investigate. The media, both local and social, will overhype anything that gathers readers. If you listen to the media you would believe, for example, that violent crime in the US is at an all-time high, but quite the opposite is true. We are at both long-time and short-term historic lows.
A problem like violence is certainly one that should be addressed. But let’s first figure out who should deal with the problem, and then get a firm understanding if this is an increasing issue where we need to act to stop the trend, or if we should continue the path that we are on, because perhaps things are improving.