ANSWERS SOUGHT TO FIGHT SCHOOL VIOLENCE

At a recent panel discussion on "Youth in Conflict, Responding to the Threat" in Cape Girardeau, there were earnest efforts to put into words the frustration of preventing yet another incident deadly violence at a school. The nation has been gripped by the rash of school-related mayhem -- 15 fatal incidents since 1995 in the United States, and the nation's parents, educators and law-enforcement officials are groping for answers.

As most everyone already knows by now, there are no easy answers. There are mostly tough questions. But just because the ways to deal with school violence aren't so obvious doesn't mean we can simply wait for this wave of mayhem to subside. It is in our nature to look for ways to prevent such tragic activity.

Indeed, Gov. Mel Carnahan has named a task force to take a statewide look at the issue of school violence. Gary Kempker, director of the state's Department of Public Safety, was in Cape Girardeau Monday to talk about this effort.

Five hearings are being scheduled around the state. One will be held in Sikeston. From these hearings, a model crisis plan will be developed and forwarded to the governor. Kempker says the plan isn't aimed solely at school violence but at all sorts of events, including natural disasters.

Even though the first of the hearings was only held Monday night, members of the governor's task force say there are some things that are already known. For example, it is a fact that violence can happen anywhere, including schools where no major problems have ever been identified. It is a fact that many steps already have been taken to protect students and teachers. It is a fact that there are early-warning signs that need to be communicated about students when they are young.

As a matter of fact, Kempker emphasized that most elementary teachers can spot students who are most likely to have problems by the time they are seniors in high school. The problem is, that kind of assessment too rarely is communicated or acted upon.

In general, there is too much finger pointing when tragedy occurs. Because killings happen at schools, the situation is too frequently regarded as a school problem. But parents are blamed for failing to impart a sound value system to their children. And police are criticized for failing to provide adequate security at schools that could too easily become, in the words of one cautionary voice, a police state.

Kempker summed it up this way: This is not just a school problem or a police problem or a parental problem. It is a community problem, he said, and by working together a community is more likely to deal best with the problem. Little by little, communities are looking inward for solutions instead of reaching out to outside experts. Those are the communities most likely to best prepared for the evil that exists.