In just about any school you walk into these days, you will find a bully.
What you might not find is a counselor there to listen…not just to the bullies, but the kids they pick on, the kids who fed up with mistreatment and no one to listen, ultimately come to school with a gun and use it.
This week our investigator Charlotte Huffman outlined an examination into counselors across America…explained only 31 states require them on campus, and Texas is not one of those states.
In fact, despite a professional recommendation that school districts have 1 counselor for every 250 students, 92 percent of north Texas districts do not comply. Most aren’t even close, even though the state education code points to the counselor not metal detectors not more cameras as key to preventing security threats.
Fortifications like stronger doors we heard from someone who thought about shooting up his school as a kid only alter a mass shooter’s plan not stop it.
It is a counselor who might notice that threat in a conversation with or observation of a troubled student before they pick up a gun.
Frisco Schools are trying it, hiring people to perform the extra duties that take counselors’ away from listening to students.
Yes, it costs money, but this is not a game.
The last thing anyone wants is another Parkland or Santa Fe High attack, the one thing everyone hopes for is someone who can intervene before a tragedy.