A 12-year-old Haven Middle School student was arrested two months ago in connection with breaking a window screen and charged with vandalism and destruction. He was then taken to police headquarters, fingerprinted and charged with criminal destruction to state-supported property.
A 9-year-old Willard Elementary School student was arrested a year ago in connection with threatening to “blow up the school” and taken to Evanston Hospital for psychiatric evaluation. A Drug Abuse and Resistance Education officer placed him in handcuffs and escorted him to a police car using a choke hold. He then kicked the boy’s legs out from underneath him, making him fall to the ground.
These incidents are just two examples of cases in which some parents have accused District 65 officials and police officers of overreacting. Parents said officials treated both boys too harshly and violated their individual rights in the name of safety. But school administrators rebutted that safety is vitally important and that they were simply doing their jobs.
The dilemma is a tricky one indeed. How much regulation can a school implement to maintain a safe environment without violating the rights of any individual child? Is it better to overreact or not to react at all?
While cracking down on students should never include acts of brutality against them, ignoring what initially may seem like minor disturbances can lead to tragedies later on.
The increased number of school shootings in recent years, including those in Jonesboro, Ark.; Littleton, Colo.; and Mt. Morris Township, Mich., suggests that enforcement is definitely the way to go. Now, it’s just a matter of fine-tuning procedures so they don’t violate rights.
And both District 65 and Evanston Township High School District 202 have taken some appropriate steps. District 65’s Lincolnwood and Haven schools require that all students wear identification badges, a measure that Haven Principal Scott Waller said would alert faculty about who belongs in the school and who may be there only to cause trouble.
Haven School also has implemented a punch card system, which rewards students for good behavior such as arriving to class on time and bringing the appropriate materials. The cards don’t deter negative acts, but they offer incentives for good behavior.
District 202 focused more on preventive measures by installing more than 500 security cameras that monitor the school’s corridors, doors, stairwells and cafeterias. While some students and parents said the cameras would invade privacy, administrators assured them that tapes would be reviewed only when an instance of misbehavior occur.
The bottom line is that the schools are trying to provide a safe environment for students, no matter how strict they have to be. Efforts thus far may have kept tragedies out of schools, but students’ rights are still sometimes violated in the process.
School and law enforcement officials must keep working to find the delicate balance between necessary precautions and overzealous measures that just complicate students’ lives.
