I received a disturbing email this morning from a concerned individual at Forest Park Middle School. This individual stated that a child made a threat to come shoot up the school. I was also informed that they are still allowing this student to attend school. This is confirmed by school staff and board members. I understand every child needs an education, but where do we draw the line to protect or teachers and students. I do understand kids will be kids, but this day in age violence seems to be everywhere. A school should be a safe place to teach and to learn. Children and teachers should not need to fear for their safety. I ask you the LISD community, how do we fix these issues with violent children? What steps do we need to take to protect our staff, and children? Unfortunately I do not have these answers. What is stopping a child from entering a school with a firearm and shooting up the school? Does LISD have proper safety protocols for a situation like this that is effective in protecting or children in staff? Don’t get me wrong I myself own firearms, but as a parent I have taught my children about gun safety and they are properly stored to where my children cannot get to them, but not all parents are like me. We have a very large diverse community in our district, and it is hard to know when violence will strike. What do we do with children who we know have the potential to do something of this nature in our schools? Do we have child psychologists at every campus whose job is to look for the signs of a violent student? You always hear on the news after a school shooting that people knew these students had a problem, but that is after the fact. As a brother of a doctor of child psychology that works for a public school in Austin, I understand the issues many children face at home and at school when it comes to violence. So the big question is this: What can we do to protect our teachers and children? With the growing violence in our community how do we make our schools a safe environment? What do we do with these children who want to hurt others, yet still give them a chance to change and receive an education? I wish I could answer all of these questions, but unfortunately I do not have the answers to this. I believe this is where we the community should ask our board members in our district what we can do to protect our children, teachers and staff from violence. I believe our schools should not look like a prison, but should all children and staff need to run through metal detectors, and searched each day upon entering or school buildings?