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Hubert H. Humphrey      Response 6

Question 6: In recent months we have experienced a spate of bloodshed in our nation's schools. What steps, if any, must the governor take to ensure that a similar atrocity does not occur in Minnesota?

Our schools must be safe, violence-free places to learn and to work.
Teachers can't teach, and students can't learn, if they are afraid or
unsafe at school. In the Humphrey/Moe Administration, the State will
do more than gather data about school safety - the State will serve as
an active partner to parents, teachers and local district
decision-makers to make sure that children and staff are safe and
productive in school. Here's just a sampling of the actions we will
take: Work to ensure that every Minnesota child has at least one
caring adult in his or her life.

All the research indicates that keeping children positively connected
with their community prevents violence and increases safety. While
parents are a child's first and most important teachers of appropriate
behavior, not all of the children in the State are fortunate enough to
have actively engaged parents capable of teaching them the values of
respect for self and others. Whether by linking AmeriCorps college-age
students with youth, Learn and Earn secondary students with younger
children, or Seniors with our youngest learners in child care
settings, we must support cost-effective mentorship iniatives designed
to form the bonds that change lives and strengthen communities.

Increase our investment in violence prevention initiatives designed
locally to meet community needs. Currently, we spend only $1 per
child to educate them about how to deescalate and prevent violence.
We can and should double this investment - and then double our efforts
to teach peaceable conflict resolution skills, peer mediation and
restorative justice models to help young people avoid violence. Link
schools to mental health and other community resources so that school
staff can effectively help troubled families access services and
prevent violence. School liaison officers and counselors can increase
our schools' ability to identify potentially troubled students and
help them get the support they need to avoid violence.

Create a 1-800 Toll free hotline to allow students to tell a neutral
adult about potential violence, abuse or other dangerous behavior
happening at school. States that have implemented similar hotlines
indicate that over 90% of potentially violent acts are deterred
through students' voluntary use of hotlines. We need to send a
message to kids that telling is not "tattling" or "snitching" but is a
positive way to keep friends and teachers safe at school.

Children learn what they are taught - and too many of our young people
learn violence at home. Studies suggest that domestic violence
plagues up to 25% of the families in our communities. We must support
accountable, cost-effective initiatives to reduce domestic violence in
order to ensure that our schools and our communities are safe places
to live and work.

In addition to these strategies, the Humphrey/Moe balanced budget
proposal invests in quality early education and child care options for
our youngest citizens, increase the availability of after-school
programming, and require local districts to include parents in their
children's school experience. Through these targeted investments, we
will improve our children's learning while we keep them safe at
school.