To the Editor:
Dealing with a 6-year-old student shooting a teacher as a school safety problem is like treating a symptom instead of the disease (“A 6-Year-Old Shot His Teacher. Who Should Be Held Responsible?”, Jan. 9, 2023).
There really is no school violence. It is community violence that takes place in school. Unless we get serious about community safety, there will be no school safety. And, as we found out today, schools may be too late to teach about violence and safety.
Although there are no quick fixes, perhaps a viable alternative would be educating and providing parents and community family organizations with skills to teach their preschool children how to deal with stress and cope with conflict nonviolently?
Stephen R. Sroka
Adjunct Assistant Professor
School of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University
Lakewood, Ohio
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