Attention School Community

During the past week, many rumors regarding threats to school safety have circulated at Prairie High School. As is the case with all rumors, many things have been exaggerated and embellished. Unfortunately, it is not possible to stay ahead of the rumor mill in an age of instant communications.

We understand that safety is a very important ingredient in learning and student success. We take student safety issues very seriously. The recent rumors have caused a disruption to the learning environment at Prairie High School. While we cannot communicate about student discipline investigations, suffice it to say that our staff has spent countless hours visiting with students, parents, agencies, and law enforcement to ensure that Prairie High School continues to be a safe place for all students. We appreciate that students care about their school and are open and willing to express those feelings to staff and administration. As we have identified those who are fostering fear, we have taken steps appropriate to the situation.

There have been lots of “rumors of threats” – but no direct, specific threats of school violence have been identified. Rest assured, the administration takes all threats - including rumored threats - very seriously and is taking appropriate precautions.

There is no evidence of gang activity in any law enforcement sense at PHS. Adolescents are social beings. If they like people in a group, they call them “friends”. If they don’t like, know or understand people in a different group, it is tempting to give them a negative label, i.e. “gang”, “clique”, etc. The surest way to encourage real gang activity is to make any group feel unwelcome, alienated or disrespected. Both adults and students must rise above that very easy temptation.

We need everyone’s cooperation to bring this episode to a positive conclusion!

Our young people are learning how to handle conflict that exists in their world. Will they learn to talk things out? Confront in a positive way? Ignore? Avoid? Seek to understand others? Forgive? Forget? Move on? All are strategies mature adults use on a daily basis to handle conflict. The vast majority of our students will learn those skills as they move toward adulthood, too. That is what we want for every one of our students.

What can students do? Please practice restraint and respect in communication with others - both personal and electronic. Disrespecting others whether on-line or in person is a sign of immaturity that will not serve our students well in the real world. Students can and should help their friends understand the value of appropriate, respectful messages. If our students take a stand, it will make a difference. If they are aware of threats of any kind they should report them to adult authorities. On issues like these, students are either part of the solution or part of the problem.

What can parents do? Please talk with your children about respectful and responsible communications. Then monitor their social networking and IM sites for appropriateness. Parents have always understood that just reaching the minimum age to drive does not mean a student is a mature driver. So parents set reasonable restrictions on their children’s driving privileges. If experience reveals a young driver is not ready for that responsibility, many parents “pull the keys” for a while to teach a valuable lesson. In the same manner, just because a young person can use a keyboard without looking does not mean he/she has the maturity to communicate appropriately with the whole world without reasonable restrictions. I encourage every parent to monitor that usage and insist that the student’s communications are always appropriate. If they are not, “pull the keys” on that device as well. If parents observe threats on those sites, they need to turn that information over to authorities. As adults, we are either part of the solution or we are enabling the problem to continue.

At school we will continue to be vigilant and to talk with students about their responsibilities to each other. By their interactions with one another, our students are actually building the “community” they will live on a daily basis. The huge majority want their school to be a calm, caring, supportive environment that includes all students. Please join them in working to ensure a safe school community.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter!

Richard T. Whitehead
Superintendent of Schools