Part One Time bomb in the classroom Problem teen-ager hides in the cracks Lingering problems: After Moses Lake, violence leaves mark In Olympia, lawmakers toe line between violence, rights Numbers don't always add up Part Two Eye on violence: Schools beef up security, find new ways to curb problems Prevention starts in college classroom Blessed are the peacemakers Poll shows public wants solutions Programs show students how to recognize, avoid potential problem areas Part Three A child's death, A mother's pain Alice Fritz describes heartbreak of losing her son to violence Getting connected: Students who get involved early have better chance of doing well Guidelines for getting involved Laws give students protection from action Many give warnings before violence Seeing the signs Credits Resources Poll shows public wants solutions Washington residents think guns, drugs and violence have made their schools more dangerous in the last 10 years, a new state survey shows. While they don't think school safety is a crisis, the survey indicates, they're concerned enough to look for new solutions, particularly adding counselors in elementary school to help problem students. These are some of the results of a recent statewide survey conducted for a group of news outlets across Washington by Mason-Dixon Political Media Research Inc., of Columbia, Md. "Given the national coverage school violence has received, these numbers don't indicate there's a crisis of confidence," said Brad Coker, president of the national polling firm, which has conducted surveys in Washington for eight years. "But they do show (residents) see some problems to address." The telephone survey contacted 828 adults in Washington from Jan. 11-14. The respondents, chosen randomly throughout the state based on population patterns, included those with children in school and those without. Two-thirds of all people contacted said they thought schools have become less safe in the last 10 years. But there were significant differences between men and women about their perceptions of the danger children face. More than half of all women - 55 percent - said they were very concerned about safety of children at their local school. Yet, fewer than one in three men said they were very concerned about local school safety. That difference of opinion is striking but not surprising, Coker said. Women tend to be more concerned about personal safety than men; they easily could be projecting those concerns onto children. Women also were more likely to say guns and other weapons pose a "very serious" problem for school safety. Two other areas of concern listed as very serious by more than half of all people surveyed were drugs and violence. Those surveyed were most likely to hold parents accountable for safety at local schools. About two-thirds said parents are "very responsible" for making sure their schools are safe and free of violence. Just over half said school staff are very responsible, and only a third held students very responsible. When it comes to making their schools safer, Washington residents seem far more supportive of counselors than metal detectors, surveillance cameras, security officers, or even smaller class sizes. Three out of five residents surveyed - and nearly three-fourths of all women - said they thought it would be "very effective" to put a counselor in every elementary school to identify and help troubled students at an early age. About half thought smaller classes would be a very effective remedy, while only about a third had such strong support for metal detectors. Paying for such changes might pose a problem for cash-strapped school officials. Fewer than half of those surveyed said they would support higher taxes to pay for elementary school counselors or a security officer in every school. - The Spokesman-Review Back to Learning the Hard Way

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