Letter: Rather than prayers, provide counselors and psychologists
(Mike Stocker | South Florida Sun-Sentinel | The Associated Press) In this Feb. 14, 2018 file photo, students hold their hands in the air as they are evacuated by police from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., after a shooter opened fire on the campus. Students are taught to evacuate during fire alarms but lock down during school shootings. So there was confusion Wednesday when a fire alarm sounded, the second one that day at the high school as 19-year-old former student Nikolas Cruz unleashed a barrage of gunfire. Head for the exits or hunker down in classrooms?
Once again we have a school shooting with 16 students and one teacher killed. All are quick to offer thoughts, prayers and condolences to those who have lost a loved one. I suggest that it would be far better to provide counselors to our schools (one for every 300 students) and psychologists (one for every 1,000 students). Secondly, no student should ever be expelled from school. If one’s behavior is so out of the ordinary that it is the basis for expulsion, it is far more important as an indication that help is needed. Providing assistance to a student with behavior problems is far more effective than condolences provided after a school shooting. Prevention is costly, but far less costly than picking up bodies in a school hallway.
M. Donald Thomas, Millcreek
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