School safety, security, and violence prevention resource

Have you heard of what the House of Representatives recently did with regard to school safety? Just yesterday, the Missouri House of Representatives passed a bill that effectively “ties up loose ends” in school safety legislation. The bill was sponsored by Maynard Wallace who says that they “don’t want any school employee, be it an administrator, bus driver or custodian, to hesitate in doing the right thing.”

So how does the bill tie up loose ends? For one, it gives the St. Louis school district to impose a dress code or uniforms. Understandably, some of you might not see this as a positive thing. However, I do believe that this could be a good thing. You know how cruel children can be when it comes to picking on other children who might not have the means to wear “classy” or fashionable clothing everyday to school. With uniforms, this problem can be addressed. The good thing about this part of the legislation is that the law does NOT require schools to impose uniforms. The decision is left to the school authorities. Whether or not necessary depends on the specific situation in the school.

Another thing that the bill does is to restrict punishment. Take note that the word I used is restrict and not disallow. This means that school children can be spanked but only if necessary and if there is another person present during the meting out of the punishment. There should also be no question as to sexual abuse.

Furthermore, the bill also bans school children who are suspended from school activities held outside of the campus. This means that school activities that are outside of school would be more secure in terms of excluding students who may pose potential problems.

School teachers and other staff are also better protected by this piece of legislation. Lawsuits against them are restricted, as long as they follow the school district’s policies clearly. This is a very good thing, in my opinion, as the school authorities are given more freedom to discipline students and carry out measures in favor of school safety without worrying too much about being sued for something trivial.

Indeed, this is a big step for school safety. It would be a good thing to see a similar bill passed in other school districts, wouldn’t it? Perhaps some pro-active action from parents and other people would help?

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