Published: April 30, 2008 03:48 pm            

School violence on the rise nationwide

Could Mayo be next?

Lafayette County and state officials met Thursday, April 24, in the Lafayette County Emergency Operations Management conference room to discuss a major problem that continues to affect the entire country. The meeting began at 10 a.m. and ended with a practice session after lunch.

Participating in the special meeting were Sheriff Carson McCall; Lonnie Hempstead, Scott Hamlin, Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office; Alton Scott and Donnie Land, Emergency Management; Laura Mager, American Red Cross; Robin Smith, Joey Pearson, and Becky Sharpe, Lafayette High School; Jerry Combass, Lafayette County Health Department; Betina Hurst, Lafayette County School Board; Harold Joyner, P. B. S. and J of Tallahassee; Regina Byrd and Jacob Snearly, Lafayette County Emergency Medical Services; and, Linda Erdmann and Gary Yates, D. S. I, of Tallahassee.

School violence, according to Yates, is a growing epidemic, not only for colleges, but also for public schools. Yates, who has been retired for several years from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, presented a PowerPoint presentation about school violence to Lafayette County officials. The presentation contained statistical information as well as strategies that will help Lafayette County deal with school violence should the need arise.

During the first section of the presentation, Yates showed a slide that listed what students were dealing with in the 1940s compared with what students are most concerned about today. In 1940, according to Yates, students were disciplined for talking out of turn, chewing gum, running in the hallway, cutting in line, dress code violations, and littering the classroom as well as on the ground while on campus. Today, student discipline problems involve drug and alcohol abuse, truancy, theft, vandalism and other violations.

When Yates asked the participants about how they feel times have changed and what students attending Lafayette Elementary and Lafayette High School are being confronted with, Pearson and Sharpe commented that although Lafayette County students are facing much of the same problems as larger schools, the situations are manageable. “We are still very fortunate,” Pearson said. “Our problems are not as severe as others,” Sharpe added.

Yates then showed a slide that had a map of the United States. The slide pinpointed every incident of school violence that has occurred since the Columbine High School tragedy. The most recent shooting occurred on the campus of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. last year. Students and faculty members recently held a memorial service in honor of those who died.

Pearson said he was amazed at the similarities of where school violence has occurred and believed it is possible Mayo could be faced with a similar situation in the future. Everyone agreed with Pearson’s concern.

According to Yates, school violence is often rooted in several key areas. The reason students carry out their plan to do harm to certain faculty members as well as fellow students could result from one or several of these causes. Yates says students who are the recipients of bullying, have an abnormal fascination with weapons and violently harm animals, are some of the most common reasons students take revenge on others. Their plan often results in suicide, according to Yates.

Yates commended Lafayette County for its efforts to protect the children of the community from school violence. He also thanked Hamlin who has been an outstanding School Resource Officer in the way he conducts himself on campus as well as trying to maintain a good relationship with the students. Sharpe also praised Hamlin and said whenever a problem arises that involves a student he always knows how to handle the situation and steers that student toward the right person who will give him the help he needs.

County officials said the seminar and training on school violence was very informative and eye opening. They also plan to take what they have learned and make schools in Lafayette County even stronger against school violence.

        

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