Building Safe Schools and
Healthy Communities

A new school year is underway, with all its bright potential for learning. And while most students welcome the chance to again immerse themselves in the business of learning and growing, we, as parents, educators, and legislators, cannot help but reflect upon the memories of sudden, violent death that have visited several American schools.

I consider school violence to be one of the most critical problems facing our nation. School violence can happen again, and it can happen anywhere. That is why I recently hosted a statewide forum with West Virginia University to further enhance our collective knowledge of the efforts underway throughout the state to prevent youth violence. Moreover, it is my hope that this symposium will spark an open, active discussion across the state about what more needs to be done to better protect our teachers and children from classroom violence. Results from the forum, as well as presentations made throughout the day, are being posted on my Internet site at http://byrd.senate.gov.

At the symposium, several ideas were presented by panelists and participants alike. Among those ideas were expanding after-school programs to all children, restoring art classes that have been subject to budget cuts, and teaching conflict-resolution and peer-mediation skills beginning in the early grades. Parents, teachers, and students also proposed reducing class size as a way to make young people feel that they are receiving more personal attention from teachers, and, therefore, are more a part of the school community. The idea of engaging students in their school and community was the single concept that resonated with most symposium participants. Too many children feel like they are just a faceless number moving through school. By involving a student in extracurricular and community activities, a student may feel a greater sense of self-worth and pride, and may be less likely to commit an act of violence in school.

I do not have the answers to preventing youth violence, nor does any single individual. None of us, alone, possesses the magic answer that will solve the complex problem of preventing youth violence before it starts. But across this great state of ours reside the dedication, the devotion, and the innovation to find solutions that work. The recent statewide symposium spurred that effort forward. We must continue to work together, and we must draw others to our task. The future of our state and our nation depends on it.
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September 15, 1999