What with intrusive random searches, zero tolerance, drug-sniffing dogs, surveillance cameras, metal detectors, mandatory uniforms and on-site armed police officers, the schoolhouse these days is looking more and more like the jailhouse. All of this follows, of course, in the wake of the shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., last spring. It was tragic enough that, in this incident and several other school shootings in the past two years, 26 students were deprived …showed first 75 words of 567 total…

…showed last 75 words of 567 total…newspapers and/or yearbooks. · attempts to regulate off-campus behavior. · school-sponsored religious exercises. There are many threats facing this nation's children and youth, however, as the risk of school-associated violent death is overblown, we are witnessing a tragic misdirection of attention and resources. Perhaps when school officials find themselves on the other end of the scrutiny, schools will start to look less like jailhouses and more like the safe havens they were meant to be. 571 words