I have been lucky to be part of a safe school system. Ihave never feared being attacked in class or heard about kids bringing weapons toschool. I have never witnessed a fellow student's life being endangered. I owethis to the students, parents and teaching staff. Their teamwork has really paidoff.

Teamwork is the best policy for a safe school. It is great whenteachers get involved with students outside of school by starting groups andperforming community service. Groups make students feel needed by connecting themto the school. When you feel part of something, you don't want to hurt or destroyit. Every teacher who spends time outside of class helping students should behonored. They are the ones who keep violence at bay. I would never fight infront of a teacher who has helped me.

Another thing that would helpimprove the safety of schools is if the staff stopped looking at the studentslike they are all bad kids. I have never been in trouble and am still seen as abad kid. It is like telling a kid he is stupid every day; after a while, he isgoing to give up and act stupid. Kids need motivation; they are only called tothe office when they do something bad. The office doesn't call a kid tosay, "Hey, you've been a great student here and we are very happy you arepart of our school." You don't understand how much that would affect astudent's motivation. It would make me work harder.

It is not up tojust one person - and there is no one thing we can do to create safe schools. Itis a long, hard road everyone must travel together. We must team up and help oneanother. Until we do, I don't see how schools can ever be 100% safe.