EDITOR:

Another shooting at a school…since the school year of 2018 started there has been about 22 school shootings that have made the front page news, not to mention those attempts that have been aborted. I don’t know about you, but as a Mom of three kids, I find this so disheartening and disconcerting. How many more shootings must occur in order for some immediate response from our local citizens and governments to make a change? ” All politics is local,” therefore it is reasonable that we take the lead. I for one cannot wait for another shooting to take place or for more kids dying to get people in powers’ attention. So, here is what I propose that we, as a community in Escanaba and Gladstone, can do now that will help our schools and children.

I propose that the schools become mini police stations. Instead of having the police congregating at the police station to do their desk work, each school will give up a cubicle or dedicate a space so that police will now have a place to work at the school. Their constant presence will help deter if not reduce the idea of someone wanting to shoot up a school full of children. As a community we are already paying for our police services, so it would not be an extra cost, all we are doing is making the schools become a harbor for a portion of the police force. Each school, depending on their size, will have a proportion of police presence. The policemen will do their desk work at the school, radios to communicate with the others, and whatever else that would consist of their daily duties typically done at the police station. This vivid presence is what schools need. Banks have security guards, courts have security guards, airports have many security guards…why not our schools? When was the last time you remember someone targeting a police station as a location to open fire?

This is a simple solution to ensure the safety of our students, our most precious commodities. Schools were a haven for our children at one point in time. We can make it a safe place for them again. To those who may read this article and are in a position in our local government to implement this immediately please do so. The rest of us need to start making phone calls contacting those people that can get this implemented. Let’s set a trend that the rest of our nation can follow, protect our children now.

Fred and Brijet Shaw

Gladstone