We must address school violence at its source

Dear Editor,

Your June 3 report, “Kingston School Board Critics Ask for More Police Presence,” illustrates how discussions of school safety tend to be actually framed around school security, a critical distinction. For enduring safety, look to the recent passage of New York bills that address horrific violence at its source by raising minimum assault rifle purchase age, banning certain body armor sales, and revising red flag laws — a good start.

The school board and all our elected officials should consider this to be the primary avenue for proactively increasing children’s safety, along with augmented support for social work and programs that enhance their lives, instead of juicing any apparatus of security, which can only be reactive at best.

For too long, these conversations in every U.S. community have been driven by lingering fear or overt panic, and the result has been the increased fortressing of our schools and our minds. With essentially no measurable positive effect, but constantly inflating costs and welldocumented adverse impact on student well-being (disproportionately directed at low income and minority students), beefing up an in-school force empowered to respond with violence is not just a poor investment, but places the problem within school doors at the start.

I cannot imagine something more precious than my child’s exploration of life. That is why I hope to hear that our community’s representatives will take on the difficult work of caring for our children by directing resources where they yield the best outcome.

Joshua Stratton-Rayner

Kingston, N.Y.