- Be nice.
- Refrain from name-calling and personal attacks. I won’t post them anyway.
- Avoid profanity. Avoid profanity. DON’T. USE. PROFANITY. Be creative. If you can’t, I’ll just edit it out anyway.
- If you can’t avoid using sexist, racist, homophobic, or anti-Semitic language, or if you’re a person who simply cannot avoid using the word “retard” for any other reason than as stated by the strict dictionary definition of that particular word, or any other nasty term which uses “-tard” as a suffix, you’d best comment elsewhere. I’m just going to delete you anyway, or counter with a really snarky remark.
- I’d also very much appreciate it if you would NOT use the “Comments” threads to sell stuff on my site. If you send me such a “comment,” I’ll probably edit or delete it.
Have a peaceful day.
Quaker Dave
Dear Dave,
Thank you for your posting on the important report on school shootings released this month by the US Secret Service, US Department of Education, and Harvard University’s McLean Hospital.
One of the key findings of the study was the need for a climate of trust at school in which reports of threats are taken seriously. Students’ sense of connectedness with teachers and administrators, concerns about confidentiality, and anticipation of negative consequences for sharing information are central to their decisions about whether to report threats of a shooting. In addition to creating a school climate of trust, the report authors recommend that students should be given a mechanism by which to report threats anonymously.
You will be glad to know that there is already a program in New Jersey (and other states) that allows students to talk with teachers about threats of violence and gives them a way to report what they know completely anonymously. It’s called SPEAK UP, and in addition to an education curriculum, the national program features 1-866-SPEAK-UP, the first and only national hotline for students to report weapons threats anonymously.
PAX/Real Solutions to Gun Violence (the nonpolitical nonprofit from which I am writing you) established the hotline in 2002, and since then, it has received 25,000 calls.
It would be fantastic if you would consider helping us spread the word about the hotline if you do any follow-up posting about school violence, especially as it seems like a resource that your readers — fellow teachers and people concerned with violence prevention — would appreciate.
Thanks so much,
Colleen Coffey
Director of Communications
PAX/Real Solutions to Gun Violence
“…but Quakers run their Meetings for Worship for Business as a form of listening theocracy.”
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