Re: columbine h.s.

["John and Laurie Danahy" <JDANAHY@turbonet.com>]

Lois and fellow subscribers:
     Last fall, the Board of Trustees asked the administration of the Moscow
School district to put together a report to the board on what is happening
in each school in regards to violence prevention.  The focus was to be on
both physical and mental/emotional violence.  The report that came back,
presented in November I believe, detailed what each school was doing to work
with all students in the areas of respect, politeness, and dealing with
teasing/harassment.  It is my belief that we are doing a fairly good job.
There is always room for improvement, but each school has measures in place
to identify and correct such behaviors.
One of the issues that did come up, which we are working on but maybe not as
successful as we could wish, is empowering students to stand up for
themselves.  Students need the skills to say NO.  I feel strongly that we
have done what we can without specific parental and community help.  Parents
need to be willing to bring problems forward, and to be willing to deal with
consequences at an early age. Only then can we begin to see the changes in
school environments that will result in fewer Littletons
John
John and Laurie Danahy
jdanahy@turbonet.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Lois Melina <lmelina@moscow.com>
To: John and Laurie Danahy <JDANAHY@turbonet.com>
Date: Wednesday, April 21, 1999 3:32 PM
Subject: Re: columbine h.s.


>John,
>Surely there are things that can be done short of turning schools into
>fortresses. And I don't think any school should be criticized for not
having
>those programs in place. I think some of the suggestions on V2020 are good
>ones (and some aren't). It would be helpful if you could tell us how the
>school district has addressed this or what you've learned that might be
>useful. I'd be delighted if we could reduce peer harassment, but how?
>Lois
>
>
>
>At 12:56 PM 4/21/99 -0700, John and Laurie Danahy wrote:
>>To make schools absolutely safe, we would have to turn them into prisons.
>>Walls, fences, guards!  Littleton had an onsite police officer!  Warning
>>signs, such as those released by the fed study last fall, are just warning
>>signs and are very subjective.  Are we to detain every student who is not
>>PC?
>>There is a common thread through all the shootings.  Peer harassment!!!
It
>>is our own children who have made the schools unsafe.  It is not a High
>>school problem, it is a K-12 problem.
>>
>>What are parents doing to end teasing and put downs by their children?
>>What are parents doing to help their children deal appropriately with
>>teasing and put-downs?
>>What should district staff do to support at school the parental efforts
>>above?
>>
>>John
>>John and Laurie Danahy
>>jdanahy@turbonet.com
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: Lois Melina <lmelina@moscow.com>
>>To: vision2020@moscow.com <vision2020@moscow.com>
>>Date: Wednesday, April 21, 1999 10:05 AM
>>Subject: columbine h.s.
>>
>>
>>>Visionaries:
>>>
>>>what, if anything,
>>>
>>>could be done
>>>should be done
>>>
>>>in the Moscow School District
>>>
>>>to reduce the chance of a shooting like this in our schools
>>>to respond should an incident like this develop?
>>>
>>>Lois Melina
>>>************************
>>>Lois Melina
>>>Editor, "Adopted Child" newsletter
>>>P.O. Box 9362
>>>Moscow ID 83843
>>>
>>>phone: (208)882-1794
>>>fax: (208)883-8035
>>>Lmelina@moscow.com
>>>www.raisingadoptedchildren.com
>>>
>>
>>
>************************
>Lois Melina
>Editor, "Adopted Child" newsletter
>P.O. Box 9362
>Moscow ID 83843
>
>phone: (208)882-1794
>fax: (208)883-8035
>Lmelina@moscow.com
>www.raisingadoptedchildren.com
>