A recent poll taken by The Associated Press finds that 80 percent of those interviewed feel that their schools are safe, but that the addition of police officers to their schools’ hallways would reduce the threat of violence.

Saturday, August 28, 1999

A recent poll taken by The Associated Press finds that 80 percent of those interviewed feel that their schools are safe, but that the addition of police officers to their schools’ hallways would reduce the threat of violence.

Most of the parents who responded said they wanted their children to have "someone to go to" in case of trouble – the kind of trouble that might threaten their lives, that is.

Police presence might be a good idea in some schools as a deterrent, but preventing violence will take more than a gun and a badge in one portion of the school.

While there might be some gang- or drug-related shootings in schools these days, that is not the primary reason that violence seems to be occuring most of the time in schools.

The last four incidents that involved students seemed to have developed out of feelings of inadequacy or an inability to separate the reality of death from the glamour of "righting wrongs" as portrayed on television.

School violence is an attitude of invincibility that would be unswayed by the reality of policemen with guns and badges. They would just be another obstacle to overcome.

The truth is there is no Band-aid that will eliminate violence in the nation’s schools. That solution will take work and thought.