Apr 1, 2018 5 min read

At 11:19 a.m. April 20, 1999, in the small town of Columbine, Colo., a tragedy of unimaginable proportions began to unfold. When it was over, two young men had gunned down 12 high school students. The nation was in shock. Educators, law enforcement, parents, community leaders and legislators were desperate to know why this had happened, and what could be done to prevent such acts in the future.

Today, 19 years later, those questions have not been definitively answered, but some of the answer seems to lie in the encouraging words of the first victim of the shootings. The words of an amazing young lady were recently brought to life by some other pretty amazing young people, the students of Peters Township High School and Middle School.

Rachel Joy Scott was 17 years old when her life ended that day. She was, by all reports and by her writings, a very sincere and compassionate young person, concerned for her fellow students and particularly concerned for those she felt were in pain.

In her diary, she wrote: “I want to reach out to those with special needs because they are often overlooked. I want to reach out to those who are new in school because they don’t have any friends yet. And I want to reach out to those who are picked on or put down by others.

“Compassion is the greatest form of love humans have to offer. I have this theory that if one person can go out of their way to show compassion, then it will start a chain-reaction of the same. People will never know how far a little kindness can go.”

In the years since Columbine, school violence has not ceased. On Feb. 14, in Parkland, Fla., another shooting occurred in which 14 students and three teachers were killed. This resonated in people for some very different reasons. Some saw it as an opportunity to prosecute their quest for more gun restrictions. Others saw it as a political opportunity to berate the current administration. Some local students saw it as an opportunity to have a meaningful discussion about how we might address the root causes of increasing violence in schools.

Associated with the first two groups, a segment of the Women’s March called EMPOWER organized a nationwide effort to encourage student walkouts on March 14, ostensibly to honor the victims of Parkland. It didn’t take a lot of discernment to see this group was more interested in using the walkouts as a backdrop for political protests.

When it became known Peters Township was going to hold a “walkout” March 14, there was significant uproar. Parents and townspeople were concerned about the purpose of the “walkout” and the safety of students.

After Parkland, both the students and the administration wanted to do something. If some event was going to happen, it was, in the view of the administration, certainly better to work with the students and make the occasion positive, civil, teachable and to demonstrate trust.

The citizens of the town were assured by school administration that this was not a “protest” and it was not part of the national walkout. The “walk up” was, instead, a program designed by student leaders, with the assistance of the administration, to honor and remember those who perished at Parkland and to begin a meaningful conversation as to what could be done to eliminate school violence.

At 9:30 a.m. March 14, at Peters Township High, 19 student leaders with 17 balloons and student participants in the “walk up” event gathered in the gym. A student read the name of each person killed at Parkland and a story about them. They talked about how they could reach out to kids who were alone or felt apart, kids at risk. They then walked outside, released their balloons and returned to class.

In the middle school, the students walked around the halls for 17 minutes, reading the name of one of the Parkland victims every minute and then returned to class. They are now posting notes with random positive thoughts of encouragement on lockers.

There were no signs. There were no protests. There was nothing but sincere respect.

The purpose of all this goes back to Rachel Joy Scott. Very few school shootings are impulsive. Most are planned. Most are a cry for help. In virtually all cases, the perpetrator gave many signs and signals for intervention. In many cases, the children involved were ostracized, bullied, were misfits or had social issues. They were classic at-risk students.

School administrators and teachers are vitally concerned about how to reach out to at-risk students. There are programs for suicide prevention and depression awareness. There are programs for identifying kids at risk for violence, rage, anger and bullying. There is a frighteningly thin line between a child contemplating killing himself and killing others.

On March 14, the Peters Township students did something amazing. They engaged in critical thinking about how they could begin to make a difference and then demonstrated some pretty radical compassion by stepping out of their normal circles and beginning to reach out to others. The front line of intervention is the students themselves. This is what our students spoke to.

Rachel Scott’s words live on.

Dave Ball is vice chairman of the Washington County Republican Party and a Peters Township councilman.