Will More Staff Members Increase School Safety?

I am sure that anyone concerned with the safety of our children in schools has thought about ways to increase school safety. Though we may not dwell on it everyday, I am sure that each time you hear about another school safety incident, you think of such things.Over the weekend, as I was browsing various news web sites, I ran across an article about the point of view of a large number of Iowa teachers and parents. According to the article:

The best way to solve growing violence in the Iowa City School District, especially at City High, is to increase staffing, teachers and parents said.

More teachers, hall monitors, special education associates and staff members who work with at-risk students are needed to help accommodate growth and safety concerns at City High, said Tom Yates, an English teacher at the school, to school board members at their meeting Tuesday night.

He said the school is working with 175 more students than last year, including 42 new students since the start of the second trimester last month. He said safety and enrollment are issues that are tied together, especially when it comes to reading and writing classes.

“We have about 1,550 students, and we are staffed for 1,350,” said Yates, a City High graduate who is in his 28th year of teaching at the high school. “I thought we made a deal that we were going to have a cap at 24 (students per writing class). We’re not doing what we need to do with those classes.”

Personally, I understand that there should be a cap for classes. I am a firm believer in the idea that the fewer the students in a class, the more effective the learning process. This is due to the fact that the teacher would have more time and more chances to monitor the progress of each student.

How does this translate to school safety? I suppose that if there are more people to monitor the actions of students and the goings on within the school premises, there will be more chances of catching trouble while it is still early. It does make sense, doesn’t it?

Yet catching trouble is not really the same as solving the root of school safety issues, is it? I go back to my main idea that we should be teaching our children to behave responsibly and safely wherever they may be. Again, prevention over reaction. It seems to me that increasing the staff members in school is more of a reactive thing than preventive. Am I making sense?

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One Response to “Will More Staff Members Increase School Safety?”

  1. I see this is an old post, but am hoping some type of dialogue can be had. I am a Chicago Policeman. was a single parent, but now all of my children have graduated from college and grad school. This post drew my attention and would like to comment. There was a recent shooting here in Chicago at a high school. The city’s response was to immediately flood the school with police for the childrens safety. The problem I have is I am a believer of if there is a kid who wants to commit this type of crime, no amount of police will be able to prevent it. From the story that was told, he walked right up to the other kid after school, called his name then shot him. Prevention wise, this type of incident is out of the polices hands. As a matter of fact we can also demise it is out of the schools hands. The teachers are there to teach, not seek out and identify problem kids. Parents are not held accountable as they should. Lawmakers are not held accountable for laws that actually punish criminals instead of invite them to see crime as a slap on the wrist. And teens are not held accountable for their actions. I’m constantly seeking prevention means for teen violence, dating violence and domestic violence and just want to dialogue with other sources on the subject. (And I’m a bit bothered by the whole thing, but I think you can tell)