In 2018, Gov. Asa Hutchinson created the Arkansas School Safety Commission. Later that year the Commission submitted thirty significant recommendations in a 124-page report. School districts around the state have implemented many of the recommendations.
One Commission recommendation is to secure the doors and parking lots of schools and require that school visitors check in through the main office. This simple procedure can make it more difficult for an attacker to gain access. You may recall that in the recent Uvalde shooting the attacker gained entrance to the school through an unlocked door.
A second recommendation is that each school should have at least one School Resource Officer (SRO). The efficacy of the SRO may be largely dependent upon their relationship with the students. In a report by the Department of Justice, it was demonstrated that "when students had a positive view of the SRO, they were more likely to report a crime or threat and were more likely to feel safe at school. Simply placing officers in a school who adopt a law and order role, however, may prove counterproductive. SROs must create a positive environment and build relationships with the students in order to achieve crime reduction capabilities."
A significant portion of the Commission's report focused on mental health. In regards to bullying at school, for example, the Commission writes that "Arkansas has the highest national percentage of high school students who said they were bullied on campus and ranked fourth in the nation with respect to the percentage of students who were electronically bullied. All school districts should implement a positive climate program that deters bullying behaviors, and promotes social-emotional learning and positive peer relationships."
I've only touched on a few of the recommendations from the Arkansas School Safety Commission. I encourage the reader to peruse the entire report, available at governor.arkansas.gov. We can't rely on the mainstream media to give us accurate and rational solutions for violence reduction.
School safety should be the concern of every citizen.
Kevin Dooley
Bella Vista