If Not at School, Where Are We Safe?

As stated in the article, "Schools are intended to be safe communities where members protect and build one another up rather than tear each other down".  Personally, I feel protected, welcomed and safe within my school environment. However, it is evident that there are people within other schools who are acting out, simply because of their mental issues that aren't being attended to. The simple answer to what schools and communities can do to avoid these acts of school violence, would be to become more involved in the students' lives and help out whenever possible. The reason that this is the simple answer is because it's the first thing that comes to mind, but this does not mean that it's the easiest. There are many students who have issues but do not wish to talk about them with guidance counsellors, let alone the people they know and trust. I believe that the only way to truly avoid situations like these is if teachers and parents work together to make the student feel comfortable sharing what they are experiencing, without making it seem like an interrogation. 

At Mary Ward, there are several people within the staff whom I feel comfortable enough to tell about any issues I or anyone I know is involved in. This includes my TA, my dance coach, my previous Flag Football coaches, and obviously the guidance counsellors. We are told to approach our guidance counsellors with any personal issues that we may have, which is why I used that as the more obvious example. More importantly, there are many students who aren't necessarily close to any teachers; these are the students we may have to look after considering the amount of loneliness they could be feeling. Also, the administration at Mary Ward are extremely understanding and helpful, so they are one of the services provided. 

After thinking about the students who have limited teacher bonds, I believe that a new service that could be provided to help students being bullied, is student communications. Since no one quite understands teenagers like teenagers, why not let them help each other out. The way it would work is similar to Kids Help Phone in the sense of calling anonymously, except you would be speaking to people within your community that you may have seen once or twice in the halls. It would be run by   trusted students, preferably grade 12s, willing to help other people and trustworthy enough to keep everything they hear to themselves. For the students currently unable to speak with the adults at their school, this service could be extremely useful and could potentially prevent any other school violence incidents.