 By Michael Moyer March 13, 2007
There have also been numerous opinions as to who should be held accountable for the response by authorities after discovering a threatening note. However one wishes to see this issue the origins of the anger that would drive a student to write such a note must be addressed seriously. After Columbine it was determined that our public school systems have for years fostered an environment that cultured a kind of unhealthy caste system within the student bodies of our nation's schools. While following rules intended to protect the rights of students, teachers were keeping a hands off policy when student conflicts occurred. Educators where increasingly reluctant to discipline students who verbally abused each other, physically assaulted each other, or acted in a threatening manner to other educators. It was likely that a legal can of worms would be opened if educators intervened in student behavior and as a consequence the threat of job loss superceded such intervention. Since then taking a stand to promote good social values has been determined to be paramount to the mental health of our children. Ignoring such values in the hope they will materialize on their own promotes simplistic barnyard pecking orders in youth that react to each other without regard to the consequences of their actions. Threatening students with the criminal justice system if they act threatening is meaningless to youth. Teaching them discipline, social responsibility, and respect for each other regardless of who they are is the only way to save them, and the future of our society. Michael Moyer About: "Concerned Parent" and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Sitnews.
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