Back to School! Please Bring Pencils, Paper, and Anti-Theft Device
Posted August 30, 2007

Schools are meant to be places of learning. Places of discovery. Places where ideas can flourish and minds develop. Yet, for far too many New Jersey children, schools can be backdrops of violence. Places where safety is at risk. Places where a love of learning falls prey to the need for self-protection.

According to NJ Department of Education (DOE) Report to the Legislature, released this week, instances of violence, vandalism, and substance abuse at New Jersey schools rose by 2% last year (2005-2006) over the 2004-2005 numbers, increasing by 643 to 18,796.

The DOE’s press release on the report includes in “instances” things such as fighting, trespassing, theft and fireworks possession, assault, extortion, vandalism, drug and firearms possession, harassment, intimidation, and bullying. The study includes numbers drawn from the state’s approximately 2,400 public schools.

Yet, despite this astronomical number, DOE Commissioner Lucille E. Davy, described violence in New Jersey’s schools as “infrequent. According to Davy, safety and prevention efforts undertaken by the state have been effective.

Granted, last year did witness a 3% decline in weapons violations and substance abuse, possession, and distribution, but these positives were offset by an 11% increase in reported threats of harassment, intimidation, and bullying, a 24% increase in actual reported incidents of these violations, a 14% increase in incidents of theft, and a 5% increase in property damage.

Still, for the first time since the implementation of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, New Jersey boasted no schools categorized as “persistently dangerous” under the act. The two schools that were on the list last year – one in Trenton and on in Paterson – lost the unwanted appellation this year. Additionally, distribution of offenses mirrored that of previous years, with 56% of violations occurring in high schools and 31% in middle schools.

According to Commissioner Davy:

[P]revention of violence in our schools is something that requires constant vigilance and attention….We continue to assist districts improve [sic] the way they identify and report incidents. We are also providing professional development and technical assistance and training, promoting pilot projects and funneling federal Title IV funds to help districts implement research-based prevention and intervention programs.

The DOE’s release also indicated that some districts have implemented their own initiatives, including “the creation of student-parent advisory councils; working more closely with law enforcement; fostering better communication among parents, students and teachers; and establishing better relationships with local, county, state and federal agencies concerned with juvenile justice issues.” Furthermore, one school district “established a multi-cultural task force to assist the schools in calming students so that acts of violence that occurred in the community would not continue in the schools.”

What does all this mean?

While the DOE’s activities may read like good policy, with 18,796 incidents last year alone, the true question is, Where are the parents?

It is not the state’s responsibility to teach children the dangers of drugs, the immorality of theft, or the evils of harassment and bullying. This is the prerogative of parents. Yet, when parents abdicate their roles – whether knowingly or unknowingly – they relinquish to the state that which is not only their greatest responsibility but also their greatest privilege: training up their children.

With a new school year beginning, we urge parents to consider the dangerous minefield into which they are daily sending their children and to take seriously their responsibility to teach their children at home the difference between right and wrong.

For information on NJFPC programs to strengthen families, click here.

To view the full NJDOE report, click here.

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