STUDENTS GIVE IDEAS ON HALTING VIOLENCE

SIKESTON -- Students who addressed a task force on school violence Monday might called for unyielding guidelines and policies that would be quickly and consistently enforced by school administrators.

"Firm lines need to be drawn so kids know their limits," said Scott Heiuser, who will be a freshman at Sikeston High School this fall.

Heiuser was one of 11 people to address the Governor's Task Force on School Violence at a public meeting at Sikeston Junior High School. The task force has been meeting throughout the state for the past month to hear public concerns, experiences and recommendations regarding the threat of violence in Missouri schools.

Three students from Sikeston public schools addressed the task force. Each said schools probably were not as safe as adults thought and suggested new policies be adopted and enforced to improve student safety.

Topping their lists was a recommendation to change the open-campus policy at the high school. By requiring students to remain on campus during their lunch hour, administrators would reduce student access to weapons, drugs or other hazards that might otherwise be taken into school buildings.

"We really need to stop this open-door policy," said senior Danette Todt. "When crime, drugs and violence spill over from the streets into the school, it becomes increasingly difficult to maintain school safety. When this happens, (students) cannot learn and teachers cannot teach."

Meredith McDowell, a recent graduate of Sikeston High School, suggested an armed police officer and also advocated a closed-campus policy. "This would be costly, time-consuming and maybe even unpopular, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and these are desperate times," she said.

Students also said an emphasis on moral values and more parental involvement are crucial if policies were to be effective. Students need to be able to talk to adults as well as their peers in times of crisis, and communication is best taught in the home, they said.

"Most people talk about this is a weapons problem, but the fact of it is you can give a bad-hearted person a toothpick and they will be able to kill someone," said Heiuser. "This is a heart problem."

Numerous suggestions for creating policies and procedures to improve student safety were mentioned, but students said the rules meant little if they were not enforced. They recommended a zero-tolerance policy be established for infractions that endangered students.

"While I don't have all the answers, I do know my safe life as a second-grader is no more," Todt said. "We all need to agree that any plan is better than no plan at all."

The meeting in Sikeston was the final hearing scheduled by the task force. Gary Kempker, director of the Department of Public Safety and committee chairman, said members will consider testimony from all five meetings and prepare a list of recommendations to present to Gov. Mel Carnahan before Oct. 1.

Anyone wanting to address the task force should submit written testimony to the Missouri Department of Public Safety, Office of the Director, P.O. Box 749, Jefferson City, Missouri, 65102.