EDUCATORS, POLICE MEET TO DISCUSS COMMUNITY ISSUES

Prevention and responsibility were the themes during a joint conference held Friday for people working in the fields of law enforcement and education.

The conference, held in Robert A. Dempster Hall at Southeast Missouri State University, was entitled "Violence, Crime and Racial Conflicts -- How Public Schools and Police Can Address These Issues." About 100 educators, police and juvenile officers, parents and community members from throughout southern Missouri attended the conference, which was co-sponsored by the Girardeau School District, U.S. Department of Justice and Cape Girardeau Police Department.

The conference was the fourth in a four-state effort involving Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Other contributing agencies to the conference are the Southeast Missouri Regional Professional Development Center, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department, the U.S. Attorney's Office and the Missouri Center for Safe Schools.

Speakers told attendees that punishment and blame would not save students from violence and crime or racial, ethnic or cultural conflict. Instead, they said, everyone -- educators, police officers, parents and members of the community -- should focus their efforts on the children at hand and work to eliminate the barriers and fear that encourage these problems in schools and the community.

"A collective effort is essential for systemic change," said Dr. George McKenna, assistant superintendent of the Compton School District in Compton, Calif., and keynote speaker for the conference. "When children come to you in a damaged condition, that's not your fault. But you are responsible for fixing the problem. It's a concept of taking what you have ... and saying 'Upon this rock I shall build.'"

McKenna is credited with significantly affecting the lives of Los Angeles students attending the George Washington Preparatory High School by developing a collaborative education system involving parents, teachers and the community. His success as a principal was dramatized in a made-for-television movie starring Denzel Washington.

"You've got to confront your students on an interpersonal basis, single out the ones who have problems need love, and plan to save more than one," McKenna said. "Peer counseling is how kids get into the Crypts gang. They walk up and put their arms around each other and tell them things like 'I'll die for you' and 'I'll kill for you.' That's powerful stuff."