Philip Church is a 13-year-old from Glendale Heights. As a student at Marquardt Middle School in his hometown, Church represents what most educators in the western suburbs describe as the typical student: concerned about school work, interested in after-school activities, preparing for the future, not causing any trouble.
Yet an increasing undertow of violence and juvenile offenses on school property countywide, involving gangs, drugs, weapons, fighting, alcohol and a growing inability to solve minor personal conflicts without violence, have those same educators reviewing-and in some cases revising-school security policies.
“I have seen only one fight in the hallway,” said Church. “A lot of people get into fights, but if you aren’t there, you just hear about it later. Usually you hear stuff from other kids, like if someone has been smoking cigarettes. If something serious has happened, usually kids don’t say much, or they say things when a teacher can’t hear.”
But last year, something serious did happen at Marquardt Middle School. One of Church’s schoolmates brought two loaded guns to school and hid them in his locker. The student was expelled and Glendale Police filed a petition recommending charges be filed by the state’s attorney’s office.
“I guess I was shocked when I first heard that someone brought loaded guns to Philip’s school,” said Church’s mother, Cynthia. “Then I got angry. I know how hard we try to give our children a safe environment in which to live. I know how hard the schools try to keep students safe. After the shock wore off, I got angry. Angry that a threat to any student’s life had been introduced in a school.”
The hardest part in creating a safe environment for students, said Dave Franson, dean of students at Hinsdale Central High School, is admitting and factoring in society’s needs and desires. “Schools are a microcosm of the community that they make up,” said Franson. “Senseless, violent crime can happen in any suburban school. If the community is expressing anti-social or criminal behavior, it’s very likely it will show up in the schools.”
The community of St. Charles received a Valentine’s Day surprise this year when officials from Haines Middle School and members of the St. Charles Police Department announced that 12 students had been snagged in a drug investigation.
Lt. Steven McCall of the St. Charles Police Department said four students admitted to engaging in the sale of marijuana and LSD. The remaining eight students admitted to buying or possessing, at some point, a narcotic on school grounds.
“This incident is not a surprise,” said McCall. “St. Charles was part of a nationwide survey with other upscale communites of its size, and the survey found that there was drug use in St. Charles. The drug use was not unlike that in other parts of the U.S. We don’t believe it’s at an extremely high level, but drugs do not discriminate whether the family is poor or rich.”
Bob Porter, a police officer with the Downers Grove Police Department who is a liaison to Downers Grove South High School, recalls the panic that rippled through the school after a shooting occurred at a home football game last September.
After a game against Hinsdale South High School, Hinsdale South student Phillip Powell allegedly shot and killed Hinsdale South student Barrett Modisette in a car parked near one of the stadium exits. Powell was arrested and is awaiting trial as an adult.
“This shooting was an extremely difficult situation,” said Porter. “It happened right when over a thousand people were leaving one exit. I was called to the scene to investigate, and it was tough gathering evidence with so many people around.”
The following week, Porter spent most of his time in classrooms answering questions and calming students. “They kept asking, `What more can (everyone) do?”‘ said Porter. “They wanted more policemen at football games and in the hallways. They wanted metal detectors. I had to explain how expensive these items are.”
Illinois lawmakers have attempted to create a safe school zone. The Controlled Substance Act of Illinois provides penalties of up to $500,000 in fines and a maximum of 120 years in prison for certain drug offenses within 1,000 feet of a school. And, effective July 1, the Illinois Criminal Code will call for a penalty of up to three years in prison for illegally possessing a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school.
Bill Gibbs, dean of students at Wheaton North High School, said that, in addition to taking breaches of security seriously, schools must look at the total picture in each situation. During the 1992-93 school year, a student brought a gun to Wheaton North High School. “This was a situation that was not gang related and (the student) made a poor choice of bringing a weapon to school,” said Gibbs. “The School Board has since come down with an exact policy for an offense like this. Expulsion is recommended.”
The parents of the student who brought the gun to school withdrew him.
Looking at the total picture, balancing general security procedures with precautions that meet specific needs of each student is the juggling act all schools face. As Manny Reyes, dean of students at West Chicago Community High School, put it, “We don’t want to over-react or under-react. We want to be proactive.”
Many DuPage high schools now have a closed campus policy, where all entries but one are locked once classes begin (this does not prevent exit in case of emergency). West Chicago Community High School keeps all entries unlocked but has administrators, teachers and paraprofessionals stationed at each door at all times. Fenton High School in Bensenville also has a closed campus policy and just recently installed a video camera to further document visitors in the building.
At Hinsdale South High School, a hall monitor greets visitors at the front door. They must sign in and wear a name badge during the visit.
Many schools hire off-duty police to walk through parking lots, discouraging outsiders from hanging around the school. The presence of full-time police officers, acting as officer liaisons within the school building, effectively reduces crime, increases security and helps students longterm in resolving their differences, school officials said.
At Hinsdale South High School, deans Mike Matozzi and Marge Eskey have implemented a student peer mediation program called Keep the Peace.
“Since Oct. 13, a group of 27 mediators has completed 32 mediations, and the mediators have written 32 contracts” that the affected parties sign, agreeing to work out their problems, said Eskey. “In the same time period as the year before, October to December, out-of-school suspensions for offenses relating to fighting, physical contact or verbal aggression decreased by 55 percent. We’ve had one failed mediation and the student was disciplined by the principal for not complying with the contract.”
Keep the Peace mediators come from all four classes, with representation of males and females, special education students, blacks, whites and Asians. “We chose kids who are leaders in different groups,” said Eskey. “But they’re not all jocks or honor students. They were chosen for how well they can communicate.”
For Lt. McCall of the St. Charles Police Department, an important factor in school security is parents. “It was parents who helped initiate this (drug) investigation-parents who were aware their children were involved with the drug culture,” he said.
“I can see in today’s society where a kid could resort to using a gun if he has access to one,” said Jessica DeLonay, parent of a Glenbard East High School student. “I wasn’t raised around guns at all, and I don’t own one. But if you’re a teenager today, being harassed or threatened somehow, chances are you’re going to have heard about someone using a gun to solve a problem. It’s the parents’ responsibility to see that their gun isn’t accessible.”
Cynthia Church said she tries to keep up with what’s going on in her son’s life: “I keep informed by reading movie reviews and knowing what kids are doing. I know our kids’ lives are so busy and scheduled that they don’t have an opportunity to do anything we don’t know about.”
Philip Church agrees: “I feel overprotected. But I know my parents have rules so I don’t get into trouble.”
