PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Pennsylvania regulatory and legislative leaders Thursday announced new initiatives for ensuring school safety. PFT President Jerry T. Jordan, who represents 18,000 teachers and staff working in the School District of Philadelphia, released the following statement on the proposal:
“Today’s news conference is an important step in addressing the serious issues surrounding school safety, but tougher reporting requirements and more school interaction with law enforcement officials will not make schools safer because we can’t legislate safe schools.
“We can, however, reduce disruption and violence by providing schools with resources to adequately guide and supervise students and school-based programs that engage students, teach social skills through interaction and create a sense of acceptance and belonging to the school community.
“In Philadelphia, few public schools today have enough extracurricular activities, like school bands, newspapers, yearbooks, choirs, drama clubs, student government, intramural sports and other extracurricular activities, that encourage student participation, teach teamwork, responsibility and cooperation and foster a sense of belonging to a community. In addition to being fun, school clubs and extracurricular programs offer the potential to teach respect, cooperation, social connectedness and community engagement as effectively as anti-bullying programs and conflict resolution programs, which should be standard in our schools.
“There are laws on the books and school district policies to address weapon violations, thefts and assaults on students, teachers and school staff. What’s lacking is consistent enforcement of rules, uniform consequences for violent and disruptive behavior and research-based remedial programs to address underlying causes, including academic failure, family dysfunction, unmet health needs and psychological and behavioral issues.
“Instead of focusing on solely more regulations, tougher reporting requirements and bigger bureaucracies, perhaps we should remember that we are dealing with youngsters who need guidance but who can be taught appropriate social skills through non-academic activities, which can also be fun.”
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