Put Schools and Communities in Charge of Their Own Safety

By Richard P Long @ Shutterstock.com

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Jason Riley writes that the worst thing that could happen as a result of the Parkland shooting is a dominating federal mandate that treats all schools and communities as the same. Towns and cities should develop the security measures necessary for them, and schools should have the ultimate say on whether or not a student with bad behavior may attend. He writes:

There are more than 14,000 public school districts across the U.S., and attitudes toward guns in schools vary widely. According to the Pew Research Center, only 16% of adults in the Northeast report owning a gun, versus 36% in the South, 32% in the Midwest and 31% in the West. How you feel about guns in general tends to inform how you feel about them in schools. Which is why school security ought to be a local matter, not some inevitably overreaching federal policy handed down from Washington and incapable of reflecting the country’s wide-ranging views on the best way to protect students and teachers.

If the Trump administration wants to strike a blow for school safety while the rest of Washington is talking about gun control, it could repeal the Obama -era policy that has pressured school officials to take race into account when suspending or expelling students. School officials were effectively told to show more racial balance in school discipline or face a federal civil-rights investigation, and the upshot has been fewer overall suspensions and more disruption in the classroom. The policy was implemented through a “guidance” letter sent to school districts in 2014 and could be revoked as easily. Nikolas Cruz is just the latest reminder that people who pose a threat to themselves and others don’t belong in our schools. They belong in jail or a mental hospital.

E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.