President Bush, in the wake of deadly schoolhouse shootings in Colorado, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, challenged the nation to find ways to make America’s campuses safer.
Bush, speaking Tuesday in Chevy Chase at a conference he conceived after the shootings, told the auditorium of experts and survivors of school violence that he was sorry there was a need to hold the meeting.
But, the president said, it offered the nation a chance to find ways to stop more attacks before they erupt.
“All of us in this country want our classrooms to be gentle places of learning, places where people not only learn the basics — basic skills necessary to become productive citizens — but learn to relate to one another,” Bush said.
One panelist, Fairfax County Public schools police director Frederick Ellis, said that schools must bring in all the stockholders — parents, administrators, teachers, law enforcement and emergency responders — and practice for the worst-case scenarios.
“You can’t learn to dance the night of the ball. It’s too late,” Ellis said.
The Fairfax school district practices plans continuously, he said. The district sends material to parents so they can understand their roles and the best ways to reach their children or find out information in case of an emergency.
Safety specialists said that more than metal detectors or security cameras, the key to halting school violence is communication.
“Our first line of prevention is really having good intelligence,” said Delbert Elliott of the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence.
The speakers at the National 4-H Conference Center hit the same themes: Schools get safer when they take bullying seriously, practice crisis plans and talk to parents about what’s happening with their kids.
Craig Scott told the story of Columbine High School in 1999, site of the nation’s worst school massacre. He recalled hiding under a table as schoolmates went on a rampage, killing 13 people, including his sister Rachel.
“It’s such a high price to have to pay to be able to do this, but it’s so worth it,” Scott said, choking up in tears. “If we can carry messages that have value and that have substance — that aren’t Band-Aid answers — I believe that we’ll have impact.”
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
