Parkway North Prevents Violence

by Brandon Fredman, Online Editor

On Thursday Dec. 13, 2012, a fight broke out on the second level of Parkway North. On Friday Dec. 14, 2012, the second largest school shooting took place in Newtown, CT. It seems that today there are more physical altercations at school than ever before. However, Parkway North is taking several precautions to help prevent altercations.

 It is not uncommon for a student to think that a fight breaks out in the hall on a daily basis, but that is not true.

“We have not had many fights,” said school resource officer Ezra White. “We have had three altercations that were physical this school year.”

 A major reason there were only three fights this year is because North is taking extra measures to ensure peace in the hallways.

 “We reinforce to students that we know who they are, that we care about them, we want to help them with whatever they are dealing with,” said principal Dr. Jenny Marquart. “We will be proactive with conflicts before they become physical conflicts.”

 When a fight does break out, procedures are in place to contain the fight, and to keep all students safe and away from the fight.

 “Any adult who is witness to a fight should notify administrators, and we will make a decision to have police intervene or not,” said Marquart. “The primary responsibility of the adults is to keep everybody as safe as possible.”

 Sometimes the school administration is able to contain the fight, but sometimes they may need to get law enforcement involved.

 “I need to find out as quickly as possible the location of the fight, and how may subjects are involved with the fight,” said White. “We have a protocol we police officers use. We try to separate subjects and try to verbally diffuse them. We try to get them to comply with instructions. Before we get physical, we try to verbally diffuse the subject.”

 The school administration takes fights seriously. However, they take armed intruders even more seriously. When a subject poses a threat to the safety of the entire school, it is necessary for a lockdown.

“There are variations of lockdowns. Sometimes, we do a lockdown because we don’t know what is happening. Another kind of lockdown is when we know there is someone in the building who we know is going to cause danger. The most horrific lockdown is if there is someone who has come in the building who is in the process of hurting people,” said Marquart. “In any lockdown situation, we try to get everyone behind a door, and away from the door.”

Safety is a top priority for school administration. Lockdown drills are practiced each year. While the school does have procedures during such events, it is better to prevent altercations before they happen.

“People should avoid getting into a fight. If you know you have a beef with somebody, notify the principal, and they will help you take care of the matter,” said White.  “The administration is good at conducting mediation if there is tension between two subjects.”