Pima Community College, Virginia Tech, Millard South High School in Omaha, Nebraska, Deer Creek Middle School in Littleton, Colorado. What do these schools have in common? All of them were scenes of violence where students, faculty and or non-academics were shot at except for Pima, where the shooter of Representative Gabrielle Guiffords was a former student. In Chicago, 258 students were shot at in Chicago, "32 fatally, on their way to or from school, traveling through gang-infested territory and narcotics wars on the South and West Sides, " according to NY Times. Then another report stated that "In 2010, there were at least 15 shootings at educational institutions from elementary to college level, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence."
What do these all mean? Educational institutions have not been spared from the violence, with the gun shooters either emanating from them or from outside. The victims have mostly been innocent of the crimes and had just been there to pursue their studies. Hence, the violence engulfing the educational institutions in America is nerve-wracking to say the least. The implication is that no longer are academic institutions safe harbour for everyone and anyone wanting to expand their knowledge, deepen their understanding of humanity, and absorb spiritual values that will guide them through life, but rather, they have become a big part of that social life steeped in murky violence -- whether graphically, physically, and even emotionally through words and silence.
Educational institutions should provide that safe haven for all seeking enlightenment, but with the spate of violence, it is time to reconsider what could have been the missing steps that the institutions could have done to stop it.
I am thinking basically of that community-outreach program that schools should strengthen -- whereby teachers and school personnel would be caring of their students not only while they are at school, but rather even when they are already home. The former must visit the homes of the students whereby they could feel more relaxed to talk about their problems and dreams instead of that "cold office or room" where the student seems to be graded all the time -- whether in terms of mental ability or behavior.
I think that in our country, the students and teachers are able to maintain a harmonious relationship because, after classes, the students tend to do extra work for the school -- whether help the teacher clean the board, fix the way the chairs and tables are laid out, etcetera. Even the parents come to school and talk to the teachers to find out how the students are faring out -- and in some cases, even create a committee of parents who will provide snacks to the student children usually in the nurseries, but which could actually be replicated up to high school and college.
What am I driving at? No longer should schools remain as anemic banks of data or knowledge, but rather a vibrant environment where everyone is involved, the parents, the community and the school itself as educating the child, the students should insure their development to being responsible, nurturing and caring adults, and not just plain nerds.
I think that this is the essence of a democratic set-up, an educational institution where everyone has a stake on the life/lives of everyone, to protect, nurture and care for all, mentally, emotionally and physically. Then perhaps the current siege of peace in the campus will be altogether obliterated forever.
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