Let's Discuss: Campus Safety

PK-12 Article Ethan Crumbly:?The lawsuit alleges that many administrators, including the school principal, knew that Ethan Crumbly was a danger to himself and others before killing four people and wounding seven others at the school. The complaint was filed at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. The suit claims that the school acted with gross negligence and created physical and emotional trauma on the students and staff of the school. Ethan had demonstrated behaviors that were questionable by the students, parents of the students, teachers, and administrative staff previously; however, his concern being a threat to the institution was downplayed by everyone, including his parents. There were issues of violent tendencies expressed on the member's social media days prior to the shooting at the school; however, again, the concerns were downplayed by the school administration. As of now, Ethan and his parents have all pled guilty to the charges.

How I would have Handled It: As an educator or administrative staff member, I would have pushed harder for the school to act before this incident. It didn't appear that any of the staff met with the parents of this child until the day prior to this event. Even then, with hand-drawn pictures of death and wording that should have raised the concern levels of rational thinkers, the counselors still didn't feel he was a threat, which calls into question the credentials and experience of these administrators. As the principal of this school, I would have reported this child to the authorities much earlier, then fired the administration that appeared to have coddled this child up to that point. I would have met with the parents personally and possibly activated the Child Protective Services agency to at least investigate child endangerment or neglect issues in the home.

?Higher Education Article: Liberty University is being sued by 12 women claiming that their policy creates a climate that makes sexual assaults and rape on campus more likely. The women claimed that the university's policies promote increased attacks against women and discriminate against female students on the campus. The suit also claims that the university has created a hostile environment towards women that have complained about this issue. The plaintiffs are referred to in the suit as Jane Doe in a case that was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York. First, the "Liberty Way" code of honor is alleged to create barriers to reporting sexual violence. The code offers no protection for female students that may have been violated if they were present where alcohol is served or being consumed or in situations where violations occur, and the member was in the presence of a member of the opposite sex. The second part of the claim highlights the athlete culture of protectionism. Meaning if the sexual violence is committed by the male member of an athletic program at the university, the current policy condones their behaviors. Third, the policy appears to condone retaliation against female students that report sexual violence incidence to the university leadership. These women allege they were repeatedly discriminated against, harassed, and forced by the campus police to be photographed naked by the campus investigators.

How I would have Handled it: As the educational leader, I have a duty to protect the rights of all students on the campus. If I had been notified of any policy that would have contributed to the feeling of harassment, sexual abuse, discrimination, or inappropriate behaviors by my campus police, I would have acted immediately to rescind the policy at least until I could form a panel to review the policy appropriately. If the policy were determined to create disruptions or barriers to the learning environment of the students and teaching staff, I would have terminated that policy. I also would have taken the "Liberty Way" issue more seriously than it appeared that the university did originally.?

What do you think the school officials could have done differently to respect the rights of Native American students?

I agree that the school leadership responded appropriately. I would have recommended they take steps to resolve this issue. The administration met with the member's representative, listened to the concern, validated that the student's actions didn't disrupt the learning process, and trained the staff on what I can only assume are cultural sensitivity issues affecting the school and community serves. Unfortunately, issues like this must present themselves for the leadership to be faced with, understand, and learn from these types of cases. This was a fantastic learning opportunity for the school leadership, staff, child, and parents regarding the 4th Amendment rights protections and how they are applied in the school setting. I mention that because unless one practices law…I assert not many laypeople know this stuff.

? The Fourth Amendment of the Constitution states, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…" (Congress.gov, 2022); this was a case of the medicine bag I would consider "effects" based on this definition above. I also support the First Amendment of the constitution as it states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…" (Congress.gov, 2022). Both of these fully support the student's rights, the parent and the ACLU's concern, and act actions they took for resolution. The school's leadership did the right things in this case. If not done already, I would reach out to that student's organization and request they speak about some of the cultural beliefs, traditions, and practices at either a school assembly or a school-sanctioned cultural awareness event. Why? Because these allow for lots of people to learn many things about the people they serve or serve within these communities.

?References:

Burke, M. (2022). Lawsuit says administrator knew Michigan school shooter Ethan Crumbley was dangerous. Retrieved from https://www.aol.com/lawsuit-says-administrators-knew-michigan-181528068.html

Constitution Annotated. (2022). First Amendment. Retrieved from https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt1_1_4_1/

Constitution Annotated. (2022). Fourth Amendment. Retrieved fromhttps://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-4/

Jones, K., Silverman, H. (2021). Liberty University sued by 12 women claiming school policy made sexual assault and rape more likely. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/21/us/liberty-university-sexual-assault-lawsuit/index.html#:~:text=Updated%207%3A21%20PM%20ET%2C%20Wed%20July%2021%2C%202021,increases%20the%20likelihood%20of%20sexual%20assault%20and%20rape.