CAPE UPDATE: MIX OF SCHOOLS AND GUNS INCOMPATIBLE

For several years our society has been bombarded with public service messages of "Don't Drink and Drive." As we have witnessed during the past holiday weekend, newspaper, radio, and television messages have continued their warning of the consequences of drinking and driving. We have organizations like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Drivers) who carry forth this message. This valuable effort cannot adequately measure the number of lives it has saved or the degree to which it has prevented injury. The serious consequences of this mix of alcohol or drugs and the use of an automobile is obvious, with real life and death examples to prove the point.

This same volatile relationship exists in weapons and schools. They simply cannot peacefully co-exist. When guns and other weapons are found in the hands of children who are unaware of the dangerous implications of their actions, tragic results occur more times than not. For the safety of all persons, this is one area which cannot be negotiated, a rule which cannot be broken. School administrations, school boards, and communities must support each other and work together to ensure the safety of the school.

When drivers' blood alcohol content demonstrates they have jeopardized not only their own safety but the safety of others, the laws are rather specific. The bringing of a gun to a school campus institutes an even more deadly situation. Our laws should be specific and must hold those individuals accountable.

During the holiday break, the Cape Girardeau Board of Education met and upheld the school administration's recommendation for a full-calendar-year suspension for students bringing guns to school. This action constitutes one of the most serious actions the school district may levy against a student. As regrettable as this action is, the obligation of the district board is to ensure a safe and conducive place for children to learn; and, in this respect, by its recent action the Board of Education has indicated guns and the Cape Girardeau public schools are an incompatible mix.

Note: With classes having resumed Monday, many of the Cape Girardeau public school students will be extremely busy with lessons and extra curricular activities. However, next week, Jan. 10-14, no night activities are scheduled so students may concentrate on their semester final examinations.

Neyland Clark is superintendent of Cape Girardeau public schools.