Among the arguments offered in favor of South Dakota's new school gunslinger law (fortunately still exceptional, as other guns-in-schools reactions have stalled in other, more sensible states that listen to their educators) is that we already have armed police roaming our school halls, so arming a few more well-intentioned sentinels won't create any unique danger.
I'm still not convinced that educating our kids under constant police surveillance is such a good idea. This New York Times report points to one harm from turning schools into police states: more kids end up with arrest and court records:
the most striking impact of school police officers so far, critics say, has been a surge in arrests or misdemeanor charges for essentially nonviolent behavior — including scuffles, truancy and cursing at teachers — that sends children into the criminal courts.
“There is no evidence that placing officers in the schools improves safety,” said Denise C. Gottfredson, a criminologist at the University of Maryland who is an expert in school violence. “And it increases the number of minor behavior problems that are referred to the police, pushing kids into the criminal system” [Erik Eckholm, "With Police in Schools, More Children in Court," New York Times, 2013.04.12].
Folks who don't like excessive reliance on bigger government (i.e., conservatives) should prefer solutions at the lower level, the principal's office, rather than giving the courts and the lawyers more work.
Increased police intervention in school discipline raises risks of discrimination:
Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of students are arrested or given criminal citations at schools each year. A large share are sent to court for relatively minor offenses, with black and Hispanic students and those with disabilities disproportionately affected, according torecent reports from civil rights groups, including the Advancement Project, in Washington, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, in New York [Eckholm, 2013.04.12].
Even if they're just getting misdemeanor tickets, the record laid on kids by resource officers can pile up and have lasting impacts on those kids economic prospects:
Such criminal charges may be most prevalent in Texas, where police officers based in schools write more than 100,000 misdemeanor tickets each year, said Deborah Fowler, the deputy director of Texas Appleseed, a legal advocacy center in Austin. The students seldom get legal aid, she noted, and they may face hundreds of dollars in fines, community service and, in some cases, a lasting record that could affect applications for jobs or the military [Eckholm, 2013.04.12].
There are plenty of times when I'm happy to have a police officer around to defuse and resolve a tense situation. But teachers (and I'm thinking of some of my favorite Bulldog authority figures from Madison HS circa 1986) used to have much more authority to resolve such issues with a good chewing out and the occasional forceful meeting of backside with locker. As we've tied teachers' hands in discipline issues, we've slipped toward making schools just a bit more like prisons with armed, uniformed officers.
If we're committed to putting guns in school, we do better to have full-time, trained law enforcement personnel handling those weapons than teachers and volunteers. But in general, introducing police into the school discipline mix raises the legal and economic stakes for children without a clear boost in daily safety.
Yes, no doubt. If SRO's are operating under a direction of kicking butt and taking names, that is the wrong way to go about things. Sure, there is time and place for the letter of the law. But not all of the time. And hopefully, those that are selected as SRO's, are chosen for their ability to understand when those times are. However, the bigger percentage of the direction of a GOOD SRO program, should be those individuals who operate under the "spirit of the law", rather than black and white. They should be looked at as a team member with the school staff and students - working to break down barriers/walls, gaining the trust of people, and letting folks get to know them - rather than thinking of them as the alien in the school.
A successful SRO won't be focused on hanging tickets or handcuffs on everyone that they see. They need to understand, and be very good at, negotiating skills, problem solving, team playing, and communication. Power, if used appropriately (and not abused), can lead to win-win situations. If an SRO operates with a "black and white" mentality, quite frankly, they are the wrong person for the job.
I agree, Dana. Police can be a positive presence if they work collaboratively with teachers as educators, not just as enforcers. That's something like the approach Denver Public Schools are taking as they scale back SRO presence (and didn't you send me this article in the first place, Dana?).
Which teaching positions will be eliminated to pay for the police officer's salary?
yep, I sure did. And I was happy to see Denver taking that stance. It makes so much more sense.
In my previous "life", I supervised and/or worked with our SRO's. When we started our SRO program, we had two SRO's and only in our two high schools. By the time I left our department, our SRO program had grown to about 10 SRO's (we had added a high school and also added SRO's into the middle schools). Our direction from the "get go" with our SRO program was problem solving. Period. We wouldn't have it any other way.
But then again, what is that saying about common sense? It isn't all that common!! ;-)
Mr. Black, I suspect the teachers and fat cat administrators see police officers as free resources because the police department has to pay for them. Instead of doubling up some resources with a few well-trained armed custodians there are some who would suggest we just get more "free" police officers.
Winner School system thought turning discipline problems over to cops was a real hot idea. Made life a lot easier for principals. Of course many of the problem makers were Native Americans, so we are still paying for legal costs and mediation, etc years later. It has also induced an exit of white kids from Winner to Colome school.
Cops and court system is not the answer to school problems. It is a new harvest time for ACLU and defense lawyers.