In Missouri alone there are 1,500 school threats a year. Schools should do a better job at preventing school violence, as it can increase the safety for students at school. The Missouri school district has a school hotline called Courage2Report. Just over the course of this year, since July of 2024, the hotline has received 102 school reports about school shooting threats. Eric Brown works with the Missouri State Highway Patrol, his job is to monitor the threats that get sent into the hotline.
“The numbers are likely higher because these only include threats reported to the MSHP. He says in a typical year, Courage2Report gets between 1,400 and 1,500 reports,” said Brown.
We must make the students in the high schools feel safer, especially since they spend most of their days in school. I believe we should have hotlines just like Courage2Report but for each high school. It would help the schools differentiate what threats are to which school and allow the teachers to be more aware of what they could do to stop threats. Having a hotline would also help students feel like they have someone to talk to in a serious situation and feel safer/ more at ease after doing so.
One reason many schools can not prevent school violence is because there aren’t teachers around for when disaster strikes. Sure there are cameras, but that doesn’t stop fights in real time. This is why we need hall monitors, so that way there’s always somebody patrolling the halls even while class is in session. This helps lower the amount of fights that happen when kids go to the bathroom during class and when its passing period. Lee Moskowitz is a marketing director for smart pass, a technology company.
“School hall monitors are essential for school safety because they supervise student movement, prevent misbehavior, and ensure a safe environment by enforcing school rules in hallways,” said Moskowitz.
Students everywhere have conflict with their friends that can lead to physical fights or rumor spread. We can prevent this by offering friendship counseling at schools. Kids would be able to go to the counselor with their friend during advisory/panther time and resolve their problems. This can lead to students being able to learn how to deal with conflict and develop empathy for future situations. Jordan Frey has earned a bachelors of art degree in communications with a minor in business administration from Colorado State University.
“When talking to bullies, counselors encourage the student to consider how the victim felt in order to establish empathy. They also encourage students to think of alternative actions that they could have taken,” said Frey.
Schools should do a better job at preventing school violence as it can better student safety. There are many ways schools can approach this situation and make the safety of the students better. Many schools already have guidelines set in place for a safer school environment.
