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Part X: HOW WE REALLY CAN STOP SCHOOL VIOLENCE: SB1667 My Bill to Prevent School Violence
By Michele Borba | September 30, 2006
This is the last in a ten part series about the lessons we can learn from a tragedy. The majority of my work with schools, organizations and even law enforcement officers these days is about ways to prevent the cycle of violence in our youth. And we have a lot of work to do. The important point to keep in mind is that violence is learned, and therefore is preventable.
My interest in violence prevention stemmed from another school tragedy several years ago. I worked with teachers in Jefferson County following the Columbine school shooting. The experience touched me as no other. I was also angry. Instead of trying to get to the root of what was causing children to be so distraught that they opened fire and killed their classmates, most adults across America felt the answer was in installing more metal detectors. After a few rather “heated” debates with several politicians, I was urged to figure out a better way to stop a school shooting. And so I began to comb over a thousand studies on violence. Everything I read and heard pointed back again to one notion: “Violence is learned. So it is preventable.”
In 2002 I wrote a “Proposal to End School Violence.” The 20 page document described what will work (according to over a 1000 research studies) to stop the cycle of violence. The proposal was passed into California law in 2003 and became SB1667. The passing of that bill was one of my prouder moments. But the most amazing moment happened minutes after presenting the proposal in the California senate chambers.
I walked into the hall and heard someone yell out, “Great speech, lady!” I looked up, to see a teenage boy, about fifteen years old, (dressed head to toe in black, with stringy long hair spiked with flashes of purple and wearing low-riding jeans). Curious, I pulled him over to ask what he liked so much about my talk. He glanced down as if to gather his thoughts, and then looked me square in the eye. “If somebody had done what you said at my school, it would have kept my brother out of jail. You just keep giving that speech, lady. Maybe somebody will listen. Just keep giving that speech.”
I promised him I would and I haven’t stopped since. We can do better for our children. The Reality Check is
clear: We must do better.
Michele Borba
www.micheleborba.com
Topics: Building Moral Intelligence and Character, Bullying and Violence Prevention |
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