The problem of violence in our nation’s schools is a serious one–deserving serious efforts from public officials, the media and the rest of us to solve it. But it won’t be solved by the media baiting public officials or by those officials basing policy on appearances.
The Tribune’s Nov. 5 front-page article “Disarming tradition” insinuated that JROTC’s rifle safety and marksmanship training in Chicago schools somehow impedes efforts to curb gun violence in schools. Chicago Public Schools chief Paul Vallas’ sudden termination of this training (declared just one business day after the article appeared) suggests that he was influenced by the media pressure and its superficial imagery.
There’s not so much as a hint of evidence that this training has ever led to an incident of campus violence. Yet after Vallas announced cancellation of the training, the Nov. 9 Tribune story quoted only reasons such as: “We don’t want to send a contradictory message in the school by on the one hand discouraging the use of firearms and being tough on violence and then on the other having a marksmanship curriculum.”
Finally the Nov. 11 Tribune editorial “Shooting down riflery in the schools” disclosed that Vallas’ decision was also based on economic reasons. The Tribune editorial staff further revealed their understanding of the fact that teaching kids gun safety and the responsible use of firearms is more likely to deter gun violence than to encourage it.
But the Tribune had already set the hook and reeled in their official. And Chicago Public Schools have lost one of the best programs they had to actually decrease a student’s motivation to commit violence with a gun.
