Teach coping skills West Chester schools should work to address security

We have seen many letters to the editor in regards to firearm regulation and school shootings. I’m embarrassed to say I’m guilty of thinking “this will never happen in our town.” However, as the news interviews have shown, that is the thought process most of the school shooting nearby residents have experienced. If there is one thing we have learned over the past year — school shootings can happen anywhere. City or town demographics do not come into play.

The main reason for my letter to the editor is to spark conversation about our own school district — West Chester Area School District (WCASD). I live in West Chester, attended WCASD public schools K-12 and as a result, will only focus on that one district.

Kindergarten through 5th Grade, I attended a WCASD public elementary school that exhibits an open classroom platform (I have omitted the specific school on purpose). In other words, there are “pods” with multiple classrooms separated by coat hangers and mobile shelving. There are very few permanent walls and absolutely no physical doors to the classrooms. This was a great concept 20 years when I was student, but today, can we really agree this is an elementary school structure that keeps young students’ safety a top priority?

Additionally, I was sad to hear security in our high schools have not improved. District-employed greeters “buzz” anyone in and don’t check IDs until the person is already in the lobby and has access to the school. Our school district continues to rank high across the board for performance and access to finances in Pennsylvania. Why do we still have security flaws in our schools? And if there are plans in motion to improve, why haven’t we heard about them? Instead of building a new, additional Elementary School on the Greystone property, maybe we should first focus on improving our current school’s security.

Scott Callaghan, East Bradford

Recent events in our school district as well as Texas have our community concerned. There are a lot of issues, so I am going to address just one in this letter.

We have anti-bullying programs in our schools, which are great, but how are we teaching kids to cope with disappointment? We tell our kids what to do if they are being bullied or see someone who is being bullied, but what do we tell our kids to do if they are just disappointed? The incident at our middle school is prime example of this lack of coping skills – one person is not interested in another and the response is to intimidate and threaten to kill several innocent people. It is heartbreaking when we are refused a romantic interest, but most people realize that it is a temporary problem. This pain will pass. Somewhere there is disconnect. This is a concern I have had over the past few years -our young people today, not just in TE, but across our country are lacking coping skills.

Middle school and high school years are difficult times for young people. Their bodies are changing, their brains are still developing and they are learning decision making skills among other things. Part of this growing up is that disappointments and heart breaks can feel permanent. They think they will never find anyone to love them or feel love again.

It is not only the school’s responsibility to teach our kids healthy coping skills, it is the job of the parents. But the school district and certainly the larger community can help reinforce healthy coping skills to our young people.

This should be part of the resiliency/anti-bullying programs we offer the students. Kids need techniques to help them cope with disappointment. Encourage kids to think about things they like to do, make a list, so when something disappointing happens they can refer to that list and do something that makes them happy: play a video game, read a book, draw, write something, go for a walk, throw a ball around, hang with friends, listen to music, bake something, etc.

Young people do not have the ability to see the long term effects of their decisions. All they see is what is happening right there in the moment. As part of the life skills we teach kids we need to remind them that there are always going to be disappointments in life – they may not get into the college they want, get the internship they hope for, the scholarship they need or the dream job they have been training for. We need to do more than make sure our kids have the SAT/ACT scores they need to get into college, we have to give them the skills they need to move to plans B, C, D when A does not work out they want it to.

Young people are seeking permanent solutions to very temporary problems. We have to find ways to help our kids stay focused on the bigger picture and give them the necessary tools to deal with life’s ups and downs and be there cheering them on when they succeed and encouraging them when they fail. We need to keep reminding them that there is another opportunity tomorrow.

Kristine Adams, Easttown

Letters to editor