Columbine H.S.

[Elaine Clegg <smartgro@micron.net>]

During all of the discussion about this tragedy, I have yet to hear anyone 
talk about the pattern that our cities are now built in, compared to the 
pattern that most of us (or at least our parents) grew up in. These 
suburban communities are shocked that "it could happen here" because they 
moved away from the big city to get away from all of the threats. Much of 
the move to suburbia has been an attempt to segregate ourselves from any 
part of the greater society that we don't want to deal with, i.e. anyone 
who is different from us. We pretend that economic class, or race, or some 
other outward symbol makes everyone within that group the same, and we 
generalize about which group is good and which is bad.  All of the kids who 
have perpetrated these crimes have been "different".  Is it any wonder, in 
a world where most children grow up in a homogenous community, that we 
don't have any respect for differences. That lack of respect makes any 
differences into a negative character trait and magnifies the importance of 
them to that person's character.

On the other side are the prejudices that are being promoted by some those 
who are different. The ideology of hate that espouses violence against 
those who treat you badly because you are different. The ideology that 
tells kids they can create a homogenous corner of the world through force 
that caters to their difference, i.e. the separatist Aryan nation idea. Its 
appealing because this on-line community may be the only place these people 
are shown any interest or respect - because their physical community has 
shown them only the opposite.

We have always had a certain amount of class segregation in our cities. But 
the scale was much smaller in the past and even though rich and poor might 
not live on the same street they were all part of the larger neighborhood 
community. Their kids went to the same schools and had to learn to deal 
with each other. The parents shopped at the same corner stores and had to 
be polite to each other. That rich diverse mix did a lot to teach all of us 
how to get along better with each other, especially with those who are 
different from ourselves.  It seems that most of us no longer want to learn 
to get along with those who are different, but prefer to pretend that we 
can escape to a world where sameness spells safety and piece of mind. 
 Maybe that piece of mind induces us to believe that we no longer have to 
be polite to or show any kind of respect to someone who doesn't share that 
sameness. Maybe we're teaching our children that they only have to be nice 
to the kids that look and act like they do.

Another part of this scenario is that we have created a world where 
children's lives are so controlled and scheduled that they have few 
decisions to make on their own. We decide for them much of where they are 
going and when. We take them there (they are hardly ever responsible for 
getting there themselves) and we pick them up. If they are home with 
nothing scheduled its difficult to find a friend who is readily accessible 
because they are probably scheduled into something else or they don't live 
within safe walking distance and there is no transit and no one is 
available to drive them. The subdivision may not have any open space so 
even if they find a friend the visit probably is spent indoors, maybe 
around a tv or video games. The opportunity is lost to try out solutions in 
the fantasy world of play.  The opportunity is lost for them to learn from 
all of the small decisions one must make when you walk to and from school, 
when you play sandlot baseball with no adult interference, when you get 
yourself safely from your house to a neighborhood destination, when you go 
to the corner market on your own, etc. Then we act surprised when they 
can't figure out good solutions or they show poor decision making skills on 
bigger issues as they get older.

We can't change this world over night. In the meantime we must make 
reasonable provisions to keep our kids safe. It appears from early reports 
that the school in Littleton had their head in the sand on certain issues. 
Boise schools do not allow gang attire.  They do not allow hats to be worn 
in the school.  They have students who are trained to act as peer mediators 
in disputes. Some of them have adopted a school-within-a-school team model 
to effectively reduce the size large schools by creating smaller schools of 
different teams. There are still kids who feel outcast and we should be 
doing more.  Some suggestions are anonymous tip-lines for students to 
report troubling behavior or activities. Classroom time spent on teaching 
individual respect and respect for differences.  Access to after-school 
programs for kids who otherwise go home alone to tv or vide games every 
afternoon. There are many more.

But none of those reduce the need to look at the bigger long-term issues of 
how our communities function - or don't.

Elaine Clegg
Co-Coordinator

Idaho Smart Growth Project
P.O. Box 374
Boise, Idaho  83701
(208) 333-8066
smartgro@micron.net