Dear Future President,

I would like to congratulate you on your presidential win, and with this letter I would like to assist you in making America a better and safer place. Right now I believe that school violence is a big issue in America. The laws that are currently in place aren't helping as much as they should and There is still plenty of violence in schools. Which is why I believe I have a solution that would help reduce the amount of school violence going on right now.

School violence is happening throughout America and it's putting more lives at risk. According to Constitutional Rights Foundation, studies were done on this subject. One study showed that students reporting gang presences at school raised from twenty one percent in 2003, to twenty four percent in 2005. The violence doesn’t just involve students, as it also happens to teachers.The same study showed that Eight percent of teachers say they have been threatened with violence on school grounds once a month, and two percent have been physically attacked each year. Students also have the option to carry a weapon like a knife or a gun at school with makes the situation with violence even worse . Out of 1219 seventh and tenth graders, forty two percent said they could get a gun if they wanted. Twenty eight percent have used a gun, and seventeen percent have carried a concealed gun. You may ask, how do these kids get a hold of these guns?. According to studies, thirty five percent of US homes have guns at home, which means that roughly eleven million children have access to guns at home.

Some school have taken a stand up against violence for example The Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center is taking action against violence. They have people with experience teaching kids that have problems at school how to deal with them and not to resort to violence. For over twenty years they have empowered teens to think critically and how to interact without violence. But not all schools have access to a something like that in their area. Which is a problem since communities like these help lower violence in different states.

These organisations are helping, but are not available in all states. I believe that you should create a law that specifies that all schools should have a program that helps students if they are in any trouble. Also, I think that teachers should take a class on how to handle situations like this to be prepared for it if it were to happen in class. All staff members should have experience and be ready for more than just one situation. Schools and organisations should help each other by spreading the word and hanging up posters in schools. In high schools especially, counselors with experience should be a requirement. Students should also have a school assembly about this topic and how it could affect them personally, and the people around them.

Overall violence is a big issue in America, but with this new law we can help prevent more from happening. With these new laws, we could help prevent a lot of violence in schools by creating new and safer communities.

Sincerely,

Imanol A. Villanueva