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Heads in the sand
Being a public official is tough. Things often happen
that are beyond the control of any elected body or
administrator.
What is not beyond their ability is acknowledging when those things happen, and what they may be doing about it.
We report in this week’s edition a spate of recent student arrests that have finally blown the cap off an all too common culture of sweeping the bad news under the rug.
We have reported on all the fabulous achievements of our public schools, but when the issues of drug arrests at schools, or fights, or the arrest of students for serious crimes rears its ugly head - all of which have occurred recently - we are met by a wall of silence.
Make no mistake, the stories will get out; in fact they get out quite rapidly. In the age of email, Facebook and Twitter, information - not always accurate - escapes the clutches of school officials almost immediately.
Why, then, do school officials say nothing? Parents want, and have a right, to know what goes on where they leave their children for most of the day and how school officials may be responding.
Citing confidentiality regarding juveniles is wholly inadequate. We know this. Parents know this. We are not looking to breach that trust, but what we are looking for, at a bare minimum, is an acknowledgment of what goes on at our schools, and then a response.
Drug arrests in school? What are you doing about it. Fights? Arrests? Gangs?
All of these are clear and present dangers to our children, and acting as if they don’t exist increases that danger.
No doubt the SherifFs Office - in particular Deputy Tony Sisk the schools’ resource officer - has done a tremendous job. There have been more arrests this year than last, and we credit that to greater vigilance.
However, next year, we would expect that number to drop again - this time because school officials are willing to work in partnership with parents and the community to address these issues. But that takes honesty, and that means being up front and open about what goes on at our schools and not just putting our heads in the sand.
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