Editorials

Prevention should be the key focus

When A Place for Teens staged its second forum on teens and violence May 25 at Calvary Church, school administrators, the local police and even a couple of Town Council members showed up. Unfortunately, the turnout of parents and teens was disappointing. It had been hoped that many parents and a cross-section of students would participate.

It was pretty much the same handful of students and parents who had attended a previous forum at the teen center. Which leaves us wondering--has Littleton, Colo., faded into distant memory?

Fortunately, the violence at Columbine High School is a fresh and urgent concern for school administrators and board members, who have been working on implementing both preventative and security measures before school starts in the fall.

At first glance, plans for the Los Gatos-Monte Sereno Police Department's SWAT team to train on the campus conjures up an alarming picture. Until we remember Columbine.

These days it is only prudent to be prepared. Certainly the SWAT team must be familiar with the campus.

Let us hope, however, that preventative measures being put in place now will ensure that violence never erupts here.

We particularly like the concept of Link Crew. Training juniors and seniors to serve as a link to high school life for incoming freshmen makes a lot of sense. At the heart of the violence that seems to be erupting at suburban high schools across the nation is a sense of isolation and alienation.

It's always been tough to be a freshman. A bad freshman experience can make one feel like an outsider and haunt a student throughout high school. Anything that facilitates a sense of welcome is all to the good.

Link Crew, along with peer counseling, tolerance training at Camp Anytown, a hotline and an improved school website are all positive steps in the right direction.

No sizzle, but ...

New motorcycle cops give the town's proposed budget a little flash, and an increased grant to A Place for Teens gives it heart. But a couple of the most important allocations in the proposed budget are not nearly so dramatic.

Let's face it, planning staff and code compliance officers just don't have the sizzle of some other budget items. Nevertheless, upgrading a half-time planner and a half-time code compliance officer to full time will go a long way toward improving the community.

The current economic boom has put new demands on the Planning Department, and staff is literally swamped. But with all the building going on--much of it in home additions and renovations--it's become a challenge for the town to ensure that builders are adhering to codes. Upgrading these staff positions should help.

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