Final Sources

Final Sources

 

When I started reading our assignment sheet a few weeks ago and saw that we had to do an argument essay I had so many ideas that popped into my head. Later that night I was sitting down with my kids and the news was on, I should have learned by now to not let my children watch the news but I didn’t. Well anyways that night on the news there was a report about another school shooting. My son who is five and half looked at me and said “Mommy, I don’t want to go to school tomorrow.” My heart just broke into two and right then I knew that I needed to do something for my children. I decided then that I wanted to do my paper on keeping my kids and everybody kids safe at school.

 

 

          The first source that I found is an article called Police, Practice and Research by Julie Kiernan Coon and Lawrence F. Travis III. This article talks a lot about a recent study involving police officers and or law enforcements in schools. The main thing that I found interesting is under the section Safety Planning and Meetings. The authors of this article wrote “More than half of principals reported that they worked with the police to develop safety plans and over 86% said that they had an emergency plan agreement with the police. While over 80% of principals said that they had school safety committees, fewer than half reported that representatives of law enforcement regularly attended school safety meetings.”  Ok correct me if I am wrong but shouldn’t law enforcement be showing up to these meetings??

 

 

    My second source is a very emotional source. I was able to find a speech delivered by Veronique Pozner mother of Noah Pozner the six year old little boy who was shot and killed during the Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting. I am not going to write the whole speech but I feel that a few quotes from a mother who lost her son will remind people why we need more security. “Most of all I will miss your visions of your future.” “A little maverick, who didn’t always want to do his schoolwork or clean up his toys, when practicing his ninja moves or Super Mario on the Wii seemed far more important.” “Take flight my boy. Soar. You now have the wings you always wanted.” “Momma loves you, little man.” No parent should ever have to say those words because they were sending their child to school to get an education. Below you will see a picture of the sweet boy Noah!

 

 

   My final source is a book I came across while researching security. It is called Keeping American Schools Safe by Anne G. Garrett. In this book the author talks a lot about how parents can help provide a safe environment while at school. She isn’t saying the parent needs to stand guard at their children’s classroom door. She is talking about help outside the school that can help lead towards a safe child at school. For one Anne G. Garrett talks about being a positive role model. She also talks about family support, community support and therapy. In another section Anne G. Garrett tells about a school in Haywood County. She tells about how the superintendent made a checklist for all the schools in his county and called it the Safe School Checklist. He visits each school and checks on how well they are doing on their list. I feel that if more schools did this, we are one step closer to a safer school.

 

 

    I feel like I still have more research that I need to cover and I would love to get the perspective of a police officer on how they would feel about a full time job covering the same school grounds and getting to know the children. I have done a survey and found that every parent I asked would love to have security at their children’s school. I hope to get some more responses to my survey question.

 

 

 

 

 

1)Pozner,Veronique How Do We Protect Our Children Right Now?." Vital Speeches Of The Day 79.2 (2013): 036-038. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. Print

2)Coon, Julie Kiernan, and Lawrence F. Travis. "The Role Of Police In Public Schools: A Comparison Of Principal And Police Reports Of Activities In Schools." Police Practice & Research 13.1 (2012): 15-30. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Nov. 2013. Print

3)Garrett, Anne, Keeping American Schools Safe, McFarland & Company, Inc., publishers Jefferson, North Carolina, and London 2011 Print

4)http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/little-boy-eyes-shutterstock.jpg

5)http://www.danville.ca.gov/DanvilleToday/images/image.aspx?size=full&img=/assets/0/103/986/1173/1174/1175/fdb44006-3979-4b32-83b9-7fafb9b16d26.jpg?n=4827

6)http://image2.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2012/350/102205627_135567302866.jpg

7)http://www.strollerdepot.com/photos/65000.au.jpg

 

 

 

                                                    RESOURCES

While I was looking for my resources to use for my paper I realized how many papers and books there were not just on violence in schools but bullying in schools. It made me really think hard about a few things. One being, if we could get bullying under control would it help out the school violence? That I suppose could be another awesome topic shall I ever have to write another argument essay.

 

 

     In the first article I found called What’s Working the author (who is unknown) talks about a positive environment to help prevent school violence. The author says how staff members should know all of the students by their name and at the beginning of the day greet them in the hallways or at the entrance. I feel that is a very good idea just because some students don’t have the best home life and if one person can say “hello” or “good morning” to that individual in the morning it could possibly change their whole day around.  The article also says this “According to a report on school violence by the U.S. Secret Service and Department of Education, study findings indicate that most school shooters shared their potentially lethal plans with other students, but that students who knew of planned attacks rarely told adults.” That is another good reason to have good relationships with the students so that they will feel safe when telling an adult something so scary.

 

 

   The second article I read called Strategies for A Safer School by Mark American Horse he talks about the many ways to help create a safer school. One thing I want to mention is Mark American Horse talks about the school entrance in being protected.  I felt that was very important just because if an intruder can’t make it through the front entrance he/she wouldn’t be able to make it in the school to do an attack. Another important factor Mark American Horse brings up is security officers. He quotes “If you have the option when hiring a school security officer, I would direct your search toward a recently retired middle-management police officer like a shift supervisor.”  I think that is something for me to look into as it would probably cut down on the cost of a regular on duty police officer. Mark Anderson Horse talks about many important factors in keeping a school safe and I can’t wait to use more ideas in my essay.

 

 

 

 

 

WORKS CITED

 

Horse, Mark American. "Strategies For A Safer School." Techniques: Connecting Education & Careers 88.6 (2013): 18-21. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Nov. 2013 Print

 

Author N/A What's Working." Curriculum Review 52.6 (2013): 6-9. Academic Search Premier. Web. 3 Nov. 2013. Print

 

 

http://hechingerreport.org/wp-content/uploads/Teachers014.jpg

 

 

http://www.newsherald.com/polopoly_fs/1.185336.1376182957!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_445/school-security-task-force-recommendations.jpg

 

http://static4.depositphotos.com/1003697/439/i/950/depositphotos_4394082-Learn-biology-in-school.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

Image

                When I was looking at for a picture that would show security in schools the number one thing it pulled up were pictures of Sandy Hook Elementary after the shooting. I didn’t want to use those because I felt like it was showing what will happen to more schools if we don’t get our schools the security that they all deserve and need.

                My picture shows how young children can find it fun and ok to have a police officer in their school. The police officer is making sure they are safe and that is why she still has her gun on her even though she is in an elementary school.  The children are obviously not scared of her being there since the one little boy is giving her a high five while smiling. The girl who is posing for the camera knows she doesn’t have to be on her best behavior even though there a police officer around. You can tell it is an elementary school by the artwork and the small handprints on the wall. I also feel that this could be a lower income school as the walls are just a plain white and have nothing on the bottom of them. Also the children are wearing regular clothes and not school uniforms which could be another sign of a lower income school. I also noticed the doors all the way in the back of the picture, they are the doors that easily lock in an event of an emergency. Finally I noticed how there is one teacher in the back of all the students adding extra security to them making sure that nobody goes off where they shouldn’t be going or nobody grabs them.

 

Works cited: google images planet.infowars.com Zero Tolerance Schools

Research Question

     With such a high crime rate in today's society how can we, as parents, keep our children safe from crimes such as school shootings??
     I would like to see schools add a lot of security for all the schools around. Now I know shootings don't just happen at school, but I feel as a mother with sending my children somewhere five days a week for seven hours a day it is our job to make sure they are safe. I think we should figure out a way to have a few extra security precautions all around the school. A police officer at every school, everyday walking around the inside and outside of the school would be one of the new safety precautions. I also feel that there should be a way to add metal detectors. No not the big huge metal scary ones, but some fun colorful ones that play music or something so that your first grader isn't scared of them. Parents would have to learn on how to downsize on all the metal accessories that goes with their son or daughters outfit that day, but I think parents would much rather do that than to loose a child like all those parents at Sandy Hook Elementary did. I feel that there are many ways to protect our students and it is up to us as parents to step up our game and have schools do it!
     I think a lot of people would be concerned about money. They would say it is a waste of good money that people already don't have. Some parents may say having a police officer walking around the schools will scare their child while others may say they love the idea. I can see parents saying having the metal detectors will make them feel like their child is a prisoner. Again some parents who have the same fear as I do may love the idea of taking these extra safety precautions.
    I want to find out and remind everybody of all the children and staff members that have been lost due to school shootings in the last five years. Also I want to find out how much it would cost to actually have a police officer at a school to watch over our children. I would love to get the viewpoint or perspective of somebody who knows or knew a staff member or child that has been affected by a school shooting. I believe that if my readers could read a post from a mother or father who have to drag their second grader into school everyday because they are scared to go, if we could show that child the security they have while at school, I feel like we could change a lot of peoples mind about the added security.

A Little About Me

  Hello there,
My name is Lindsey and I am married to my teenage sweetheart Dustin and together we have three amazing wonderful boys! They are Alexander who is five, Kayden who is four and Nicholas Wray who is two. I am a stay at home mom. In our free time we love to go camping, fishing, play volleyball and just have a good time whenever we can. I am currently enrolled in Front Range Community College and am taking two online classes. I am trying to get my teaching degree as I would love to be a second grade teacher. It is taking a lot longer than what  I thought it would as my youngest son has a lot of medical problems so I can only do two classes at a time due to our hospital stays and doctor appointments. If there is anything you want to know about me please free to ask. Hope you all enjoy my blog posts as I have never done these before.