Letters | SCHOOL VIOLENCE: ITS CAUSES & ITS CURES

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AST WEEK, WE asked you about school violence - why it's happening and what should be done about it. And we also asked teachers to give us their views and stories, with the promise of anonymity if requested. Here are the replies:

My big concern is that the schools are left to deal with thousands of children whose parents turn over their responsibilities for their own children to the school.

If it were up to me, they would all be sent to a disciplinary school or expelled. Letting a kid get away with little things, speaking out, not paying attention, being disrespectful to the teachers, quickly escalates to bullying and outright violence.

And to all the politicians who say every child deserves an education: They do, but not at the expense of the children who follow the rules, but get their education disrupted. Get the politicians to sit in a classroom with some of these kids, and we'll will see how fast they change the system.

Jennifer Cullen, Philadelphia

The recent reports of student violence are horrifying. But we shouldn't be surprised, given the myopic way that the educational, law-enforcement and political leaders have been addressing the issue.

Stiffer penalties for violators, metal detectors, a heavier police presence, school uniforms, a standardized curriculum and the incessant use of high-stakes standardized testing are just a few of these "compliance-driven" approaches. This short-sighted thinking squarely positions young people as problems that need to be fixed, to stand in line straighter and to keep quiet.

Philadelphia's leaders must explore more purposeful approaches to the problem of teen violence. Young people must be supported as active, participating citizens. And schools and communities must not be built on fear and metal, but on strong relationships, social trust and a commitment to help children acquire the skills and self-confidence they need.

Kenny Holdsman, Director

Youth Civic and Political Engagement

Academy for Educational Development

Philadelphia

I'm a teacher in a suburban high school. I've never been threatened or assaulted, but if I were, I would want that student out of my classroom, and out of the school, at least until the student resolves his or her issue. Then the superintendent, in consultation with the principal, can make a decision about that child's return to school.

Violent children, for their own safety, and for the safety of the men and women who teach them, must be removed from the school.

Jack Brewster, Philadelphia

As a new teacher in a lower Northeast high school, I've broken up at least 10 major fights, extinguished a locker fire, been threatened, seen fellow teachers under assault and had unwelcome, unescorted "guests" barge into my classroom.

Our school is at a point where the inmates are running the prison. The district is restrained by its budget to a limited number of the support staff so urgently needed to keep the hallways clear and our classrooms safe. There are simply not enough bodies to police the school.

And parents need to take a more active role. I had six parents show up on back to school night in October. (I teach more than 150 kids.) Parent apathy, violence and a lack of funds for books, supplies and support staff make our job all the more difficult.

I love my job, my kids, my co-workers and the administration, but the last time I checked, my degree read educator, not babysitter.

Name Withheld, Philadelphia

Fifteen, 20 years ago, reports started chronicling the dangers of teen motherhood. Today, record crime, violent schools, our cities' ongoing economic crises reflect what those reports warned us of.

As a teacher, I can tell you that fully 50 percent of my students have been the victims of or have family members who have been victims of serious crime. We all know students who haven't made it. We must stem the tide. Not by worrying about leaving No Child Behind in the classroom based on standardized tests, but by leaving no child behind in tests of human decency and civility.

While Mayor Street swears in 125 parent truant officers to go after the troubled children of ineffective parents and return them to our violence-plagued schools, what about spending some money on the good children of effective parents who attend school daily, behave and achieve?

Every parent wants his child to be one of these children, but many, especially teen parents, don't know how, so teach parenting skills at hospitals.

Another suggestion: Invest $5,000 in each child's name at birth. If he arrives at school reading-ready, give the parent $2,000. The remaining funds will mature and serve as a scholarship fund for the child to attend college.

Keith Newman, Philadelphia

As an educator, I'm becoming concerned about the number of opinions that I'm reading that appear to be setting expectations that schools are solely responsible for raising and disciplining children.

Whatever happened to the notion that "it takes a village"? We desperately need parents, religious institutions, communities and schools to work more collaboratively if we intend to successfully address the needs of children today. Schools simply cannot do it by themselves.

The ultimate solution to raising and disciplining children is as simple as getting back to some of the basic things that have long sustained families, communities and schools - and we know what they are.

Sheila Royal-Moses, Broomall

I'm convinced there are three reasons for the increase in school violence:

1. The breakdown of a family system in which values and morals are taught.

2. It's a reflection of what's going on in our society.

3. The removal of God from our daily lives (and classrooms).

I teach at the Youth Study Center. I meet the children we're all reading about in the paper and watching on TV every day.

A disproportionate number of our student residents are African-American. What they don't tell you is that most are not bad or unintelligent kids. We adults have failed them long before they arrived at this point.

The ultimate question is how do you make people care?

Name Withheld, Philadelphia

I find it a bit ironic that the details of the violence in the public schools are finally being exposed. But it took the broken neck of a white male for it to hit the headlines - tsk-tsk.

I'm a substitute teacher who is walking around with broken teeth, panic attacks and a bad back as a result of violence in the school on three separate occasions. Despite the fact that it was repeatedly reported, one of the students remained in school after three additional assaults.

Students have all the rights. Principals and administration desired to keep the statistics low, fearing questioning of their leadership.

Why should we have to go through this lack of support, fear and intimidation for the sake of statistics?

The public schools are in worse shape than ever. I assure you, someone is being threatened and assaulted on a regular basis and the problems go unreported.

Substitutes are undervalued, underappreciated, underpaid and overexposed to abuse, violence and a callous disregard by the administration.

Carol Mims, Philadelphia

Violence in the schools is a systemic problem. I think that blaming Paul Vallas, principals or teachers is missing the mark.

The onus should be placed at the very top (city/ state/ national government). They need to pump both money and resources into the system.

Until and unless they are willing to increase teacher salaries, significantly reduce class size, and hold students accountable, this problem is not going away.

Sharon Popovsky, Rockledge, Pa.

While the violence taking place in the high schools is truly alarming, it didn't start there. Much of it began in our elementary and middle schools.

The behavior of some of our elementary and middle-school students is out of control. There has to be something more a principal can do, besides suspension for a few days, because this has become meaningless to the hard-core behavior problems and, in many cases, their parents. By the time they reach high school, they believe they are exempt from any meaningful consequences.

And the violence, as bad as it is, is not the largest problem.

That would be the theft of a meaningful education from the many well-behaved students who are starving to be allowed to get the education they deserve. No classroom should be allowed to be held hostage by one or two students who are out of control.

Along with alternative schools for older students, maybe the school district should consider small schools or classes within schools for these disruptive younger students. Not only will it allow the majority of the students to have a safe place to learn, it will also allow the disruptive students to receive the type of help they need now, so that they do not become the violent high school student of tomorrow.

Although academic work has to be the most important part of the educational process, more needs to done with intentional teaching of socialization skills in the early years. Too many children don't know how to solve their problems without a push or shove.

Unfortunately, too many of them live with violent things happening around them, and no one is showing them a better way.

Shouldn't this be an important part of the curriculum also?

J. Harris, Media