WHAT GOOD IS HAVING POLICE IN OUR SCHOOLS?

ARE in-house cops the best way to curb crime and violence in our schools?

The Winnipeg School Division thinks so. It wants to spend $258,000 to
add three new officers to its schools. The division, which plans to
use surplus funds to pay its third of the price, is hoping to share
the annual cost with the city and the province.

The cops would work out of three schools: two in the inner city and
one in the south end. There are already three resource officers
working in North End schools.

The officers would fan out into a number of other area schools,
dividing their time.

I'm a parent. I understand the fears of those advocating law and
order in the hallways.

But I'm not convinced sending in police officers is the best way to
guarantee the safety of children at school. There's something about
inviting in uniformed authorities to keep the peace that makes me
worry about the message we're sending.

Aren't we telling kids we expect them to behave like little gang bangers?

American author and education expert Alfie Kohn, whose books The
Schools Our Children Deserve and Beyond Discipline are bestsellers,
has written about the issue of discipline in schools.

I e-mailed him to see what he thought about the idea of placing cops
in schools. Would it serve the intended purpose of making schools safer?

"Ironically, safety is put at risk by making a school feel like an
armed camp," Kohn wrote back. "That's because a safe school
environment is one where students are able to really know and trust
- -- and be known and trusted by -- adults.

"Those bonds, however, are ruptured by a system that's about doing
things TO students who act inappropriately rather than working WITH
them to solve problems."

The Winnipeg program is intended to foster a trusting relationship
between students and police. It's not simply punitive. Kohn still
doesn't buy the idea.

"A reliance on old-fashioned discipline, with intrusive surveillance
and threats of punishments for offenders not only distracts us from
dealing with the real causes of problems but in effect models
bullying and power for students," he wrote.

That's powerful stuff. But it's only the first part of my problem
with the plan.

Here's the second:

Assuming you put cops in schools, why would kids care what they think
or do? Who are we kidding?

Last week, six kids aged 13 to 16 were accused of stealing a pair of
Cadillacs. They allegedly took the cars on a joy ride, playing a sort
of bumper-car game with any vehicle in their way.

They weren't afraid of the consequences.

Tuesday, three boys were in court for their role in allegedly running
down a jogger on Wellington Crescent. Two of those charged were 16, one 13.

The youngest boy was one of those arrested in the Cadillac joy ride spree.

Here's the real lesson: There is nothing in our Criminal Code or
Youth Criminal Justice Act to convince would-be car thieves that
there are consequences to their behaviour.

We've got revolving-door justice -- and I'm not convinced there is
any justice, not when you've got innocent people paying their Autopac
deductibles because some kids decided to have a little fun.

Let's say we start adding more police officers to schools, ostensibly
in the hope they'll nip juvenile crime in the bud. What exactly are
they supposed to do -- shout "boo!" and hope they scare kids straight?

Put police officers in the schools if you must. In the best possible
world, some trust-building will take place. Just don't expect youth
crime to drop.

Our justice system has taught little miscreants that there are no
consequences. It has also taught police that no matter how hard they
work, they'll see these kids over and over again.

That's the real lesson. That's the real crime.