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School
safety begins
at home

  The parent visited the parish priest with one question on his mind: What was being done to increase security at St. Patrick's School?
  Not that the parochial school in Kansas City, North, is unsafe. On the contrary, children in preschool through the eighth grade walk the halls confidently. The staff is in control. Most students are polite, well-behaved and good to one another.
  But the recent shootings in high schools in Santee, Calif., and Williamsport, Pa., put parents everywhere on edge. At St. Patrick's there was talk of a taunting incident. In the parking lot before and after school, parents huddled and worried.
  The father who visited the Rev. Gerald Waris, the parish priest, said he might remove his children from the school. Waris talked to him, trying to allay his concerns. And he asked a question: Do you have guns at your home?
  Well, yes, the man replied.
  Waris sent a notice home to parents. He would address the safety concerns at an evening meeting.
  About 100 parents attended. Waris did most of the talking.
  Students were safer at school than at a shopping mall or a skating rink, he said. Still, St. Patrick's school would be proactive. Staff would receive training; the policy requiring visitors to sign in and wear badges would be enforced more conscientiously.
  Students, teachers and parents would hear from Scary Guy, a behemoth of tattoos, muscles and studded jewelry who travels the country encouraging youths to stop bullying and taunting one another.
  A parent, Tonia Bengimina, heard Scary Guy (his legal name) on a local radio show. She booked him, and then raised $1,000 from parents and businesses in just a couple of days to pay him.
  But there was more, Waris said. Parents could play a huge role in ensuring school safety.
  First, they could check their child's backpack every day and remove any objects that students might use to harm themselves or others.
  Also, Waris said, parents could get their guns out of their houses. Most of the fatal school shootings in recent years were committed with guns students brought from home, he noted.
  "Bring your handguns to me," Waris offered. "I will lock them up until the school year is over."
  The transaction would be handled in complete confidence, Waris told parents. If an owner wanted the gun returned, the priest would hand it over, no questions asked.
  "That was my statement," Waris said.
  And the response?
  Silence.
  The idea was still commanding the silent treatment several days later, when parents came to the school to hear Scary Man. Two mothers simply shook their heads and talked around the question when I asked about Waris' proposal.
  I asked Jean Roach, the school principal, what the reaction had been.
  "About what you'd expect," Roach said.
  Which is, when you think about it, a good answer. What response would one expect from a radical idea -- an idea that requires parents to shift the focus of their concern from the world outside to their own beliefs, values and possessions?
  Silence. Derision, perhaps. Acceptance would come slowly, if at all.
  His offer is still on the table, Waris says. And he is still waiting.

To leave a comment for Barbara Shelly, call (816) 889-7827 and enter 1017, or send e-mail to bshelly@kcstar.com.

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