Thursday, January 21, 2010
Does Memphis City Schools really need a separate police department?
I decided a while ago that the evening news had become a dumping ground for depressing information. If it isn’t a homicide or theft report, it will be certainly be an exclusive for the latest city school to fall victim to a shooting or rape case. School violence has become almost “normal” in Memphis. It seems to me that there is a lack of administrative concern for the welfare of all students. There is a school board meeting aired regularly on television to discuss the lack of school funding. Many metro schools are not receiving the quality education that they should be. With the everyday distractions that many students deal with, school should be a safe, learning environment. But, it’s not. Students at various metro schools have had students commit some type of crime. They vary from bringing firearms into the school building to multiple students being shot or stabbed. The reason schools are becoming increasingly more violent has been debated by many, but the fact remains that criminal activity in the schools exist and students need protection. But is an in school police department really the answer?
I believe that the school system would greatly benefit from additional programs. Several Memphis schools have less than adequate funding for students and there are no mentoring programs available for the students in many areas. Schools should have more creative and artistic outlets for the youth to participate in. Anger management classes should be mandatory. Fundraising efforts should focus more on activities that are intriguing to both parents and communities of urban neighborhoods. But, instead of this happening, there is a constant debate over whether the city of Memphis should sue the school district and vice versa over owed money. It is amazing to me how the district is so poor but can afford to pay its board members and superintendent six figure salaries. Even with the $90 million donation the district has received from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, I somehow believe THAT will be mostly absorbed into other questionable activities. I think that the answer to increasing funding for the district is to decrease some of the unnecessary expenditures that exist.
During the process of hiring a new superintendent to replace Dr. Carol Johnson, the school board decided to hire an outside agency to find a candidate for them. The thousands of dollars invested in the hiring agency could have been invested into the schools. Also, the administrative staff makes way more than the actual teachers in the district. I believe that it is overkill to be paid that much money. If education is the first priority for administrators, they should not mind taking a pay cut to benefit the students.
In an article written about the possible school police force addition, Dr. Kenneth Whalum made a very astounding statement, "I just can't wrap my mind around the fact that we want to spend $15 million to create a police force that has the power to shoot our kids but a principal can't spank our kids. I am categorically, vehemently opposed to it." (http://www.examiner.com/x-13046-Memphis-Religion--Politics-Examiner~y2010m1d14-Memphis-city-schools-wants-own-police-force). I agree totally. The city of Memphis has a great burden of trying to get enough police officers to patrol the city streets, there is no way funding for a separate police station will be possible. Especially when they cannot fund programs that could possibly decrease violence in the schools.
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I am not sure which side I would choose on this debate. A seperate police force would be great for all of the violence that occurs in school, but they could also put that money toward something else. All of the violence in school amazes me and the fact that someone cannot do anything about it. These students who are committing all these horrible things should never be allowed back in a school and students who commit small acts of violence such as fighting SHOULD be made to go to anger management classes. More consequences need to be made for these students acts of violence and it is not being done. So maybe a seperate police force would help and administrators could take a pay cut for the safety of the students and teachers.
ReplyDeleteJonquil,
ReplyDeleteGreat topic and one that I think will require you to keep your focus from spiraling out to the variety of causes that have created the school systems in which so many of our children try to thrive.
There is the issue of parental involvement a lack of which can be for a myriad of reasons; overworked parents (single or married) who are doing everything they can to make ends meet and may work for less than flexible employers, absent parents, parents dealing with substance abuse and so on. I don’t know that a public policy can do a tremendous amount for this issue.
I believe that another factor is also how large our schools have become. We have shut down the neighborhood or community schools and bus our children in to attend these huge schools where it is impossible for teachers and school administrators to form the connections and relationships children need. Instead these children become anonymous numbers walking through the halls. When you become anonymous, you begin to feel invisible, when you feel invisible so many other factors can come into play; loss of a personal sense of accountability, feelings of hopelessness or anger can increase, the skill sets both social and academic that we all need to develop into healthy and productive people don’t get developed. I believe this directly contributes to the perceived or actual need for law enforcement in schools. Our teachers, parents and administrators are not connecting with the kids due to the demands of the system so now we’re just trying to keep them from assaulting each other by placing law enforcement in the hallways.
To support my position on the size of schools and what it is doing for our communities I present an example from my own life. I have two fantastic kids. Each summer they have gone to the same community center summer camp for eleven years. It is a fantastic camp and swim team program held at a not-for-profit location which isn’t the most high tech or slick place but it is safe. The same two hundred or so families have been sending the kids there for years and those kids grow into camp counselors there, you get the picture. Not everyone that walks through the campus knows my children but most of them do. So one summer my oldest daughter is testing the waters for rules and regulations and she thought she might be sneaky. One of the mothers saw her and said, “McKenzie, I know your mother and I am absolutely certain that what you are about to do is going to get you into some trouble.” Now this was not a huge infraction. The incident itself is not the point; it is natural for kids to push boundaries. The point is that she was accountable, she knew she wasn’t invisible and that her mother was going to find out what she was up to, but more importantly she knew that people cared about her wellbeing. She laughs about it and says she knows she can’t get away with anything and she also says that this campus is her favorite place on earth. She says it makes her feel safe and loved.
Good luck with your topic. I am very interested to see how this develops for you.
Very best,
dede