School Violence Poll

Two-thirds of Americans say police in schools would quell Violence

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) Posting police officers in hallways would help curb school violence, two out of three adults say in an Associated Press poll. But most Americans see dangerous acts as events that happen elsewhere, with more than 80 percent saying they think schools in their own communities are safe.

Even for people who are comfortable with the safety of their own schools, police officers in schools can provide peace of mind.

"I like the idea of a human being, someone the kids could go to" if there was trouble, said Mary Beth Corvati, a mother of two children in Harford County, Md., and one of 1,016 surveyed in the poll conducted by ICR of Media, Pa.

While 65 percent said they thought stationing officers in schools would reduce violence, compared with 33 percent who said it would not, Americans were less certain that metal detectors would help. Fifty percent said they would help, 47 percent said they would not.

"I would like for my children to view a police officer as someone who could help preserve their safety, be a role model _ someone they could look up to," said Mrs. Corvati. "I don't think my children could look up to a metal detector."

People have had the summer to assess how they feel about school safety after two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., killed a dozen classmates, a teacher and themselves last April. A sheriff's deputy was on duty at the school when the shootings occurred.

Despite the Columbine shootings and other high-profile cases of violence in schools, only 14 percent of Americans say their schools are not safe.

Blacks were more likely than whites - 30 percent to 10 percent to say schools in their community were either "not too safe" or "not safe at all."

But more than four out of five of all respondents felt their schools were relatively safe.

"After Columbine, we had a little flurry of activity, but for the most part our schools are pretty safe," said Carrie Clark, a mother of two young children from Dover, N.H. "We had one incident in an elementary school - a boy was caught with a gun in his knapsack. He was expelled."

Her efforts to shelter her children include keeping toy guns away from them, but that has met with mixed results.

"I don't let them play with toy guns, but they build Legos into guns," she said. "My daughter's play hairdryer is a gun. When I'm in another room I hear them (say) 'bang, bang, I'm going to kill you' or (shooting) their stuffed animals."

Reducing violence in TV shows and movies was cited by one-third of those surveyed as the most effective way to stop school violence, with women, Republicans and older Americans most likely to choose that option. Another 22 percent said increased counseling for teen-agers would be most effective. Stricter gun laws and putting metal detectors in schools were chosen most effective by 16 percent each.

In May, in another AP poll, 23 percent chose metal detectors as the most effective curb of school violence.

The latest poll, taken Friday through Wednesday, had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

While the public may think police officers could stem school violence, school administrators are moving cautiously.

"It's a growing trend, but nobody has a hard number," said Bruce Hunter, a spokesman for the American Association of School Administrators. Many high schools in metropolitan areas have officers, he said, "but my opinion is that a majority (of high schools) do not have a police officer."

The reaction to armed officers in schools has been mixed in Colorado, said Steve Pratt, executive director of the Colorado Association of School Executives.

"Some people express concern over how (a police presence) changes the atmosphere in the building, see it as too intrusive," he said, adding they prefer a good communication link with police. "But others say it offers peace of mind."

For Mrs. Clark, the full-time mom from New Hampshire, the whole debate over school violence makes her long for the peace and tranquility of the rural mountains where she grew up.

"This scares the hell out of me, frankly," she said. "I would love to move back up into the mountains, move far away and get away from all of this."