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Trustee,
Toronto Catholic District
School Board
Oliver Carroll
Posted Jan. 2008
There has been a lot written about the Julian Falconer report
on issues related to the shooting death of student Jordan Manners in a
Toronto secondary
school.
Mr. Falconer has found fault with the school system, with
individuals in the system, and has made a number of recommendations which
may only be remembered for the suggestion that police dogs be used in high
schools to “sniff” out weapons in school lockers. For those who think
that’s a good idea imagine how you would like random checks of your work
place. Imagine dogs rooming up and down in other public places like malls
or the city hall.
There are obviously things that can be done better inside our
schools to ensure students are and feel safe. Schools, however, reflect
the society they operate in. They are also one of the few places in which
every child and adolescent has to feel welcome. We do not want people
entering armed camps or being subject to random searches. As parents we
wouldn’t stand for it if our children were subjected to this. We always
think it will be someone else’s child. How safe will our sons and
daughters feel if they see police dogs roaming the halls of their schools
or their lockers being opened and searched without permission or good
cause?
Over the last several years the response of Government to
violence has been to add more police and toughen up the prosecution
process. This gives us the sense that something is being done. Despite
this tough approach last year
Toronto had its second
highest number of murders ever.
Governments meet and discuss what to do but never include
schools in these discussions. It is, as if, those who engage in criminal
behaviour never gave any indication that trouble was coming. The reality
is that students who end up in trouble showed signs of this at an early
age.
 High achieving successful students don’t generally end
up carrying weapons. It is those who have been marginalized and left
behind; those who no longer, if they ever did, feel like they are part of
the society they are being educated into.
Mr. Falconer took the easy way out. He blamed the school
system. He didn’t really look to see who else might have had a role to
play. He acted much like the bullies he supposedly wants to drive out of
the system. There is some value in his report but you need to work through
the rhetoric to get to it.
People say that it takes a village or a community to raise a
child. I believe that village includes parents, other students and the
broader community. It takes little work to blame institutions especially
ones like school boards yet every one of us is a product of the system now
so easily ignored or
criticised.
There are people, including students, who know when someone
has a weapon but they don’t feel they can inform without repercussions.
With their safety at stake why is that? What is happening in their
community or their homes to force a degree of silence that results in the
death of a young man on school property?
Why is it that teachers and administrators don’t immediately
respond to information on assaults and weapons? Is it because when they do
they are criticized for enforcing zero tolerance? We can’t have it all
ways. We have to decide what it is we want. We can’t have our school
administrators unsure of what tack the Boards, the Mayor or other elected
officials will take next.
As a society we have taken the remedial approach to dealing
with problems with our youth. It is as if the way to deal with lung cancer
is to only train more surgeons instead of working to ensure people don’t
smoke in the first place. We can do more. Especially with those children
who need help in the primary grades but so far the City and Federal
Governments have contributed little but words.
In Malvern there is an innovative program being run with a
community organization –
“Hoodlinc”
– the principals were the “stars” of the documentary “EMPz 4 Life” – shown
at last year’s Toronto Film Festival. One of the young men was recently
murdered. A secondary school student who had begun to turn his life
around.
School Boards
need to develop ideas and programs to provide the support that students
and their families require to ensure as few students end up thinking
that being part of a gang or owning a gun is the only option they have.
Too often the “answer” comes from those far removed from the school
community.
We will all be safer
when we start to work with those children in academic and social need.
School Boards have a role to play. We need Governments, Communities and
Parents to sit down, listen and work with us. More cooperation and less
rhetoric might just be helpful.
I wish everyone a
safe and healthy 2008.
Oliver Carroll
Trustee, Toronto
Catholic District School Board
– e-mail:
olivercarroll@rogers.com
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