The recent stabbing incident on the Waianae High School campus between two students, which involved bullying and highjacking, has prodded the school to undertake positive measures to prevent future violent incidents. Waianae High will present “Rachel’s Challenge” on January 30, 2013, to students in two separate assemblies. This program will review the significance of the 1999 Columbine High School shooting which killed 12 students and one teacher and injured 21 additional students in Colorado. The father of Rachel Scott, the first student who was killed in the massacre, travels around the nation to speak to students about the incident and discuss positive action for preventing future shootings and violence on school campuses. Following the school program will be a public meeting at 6 P.M. in the school gym where parents are invited to participate in discussing school problems.
In addition, the Waianae Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) continues to work on preventing bullying in the schools with Hui for Excellence in Education (HEE). Calvin Endo, Waianae High School’s PCNC, says, “We have completed a draft of a legislative bill on bullying in the schools and presented it to Senator Oakland-Chun of the Keiki Caucus, and we hope it will be given serious consideration.” The proposed bill encompasses the definitions of bullying, the signs thereof, what schools should be promoting to prevent bullying, and asks for funds for employee and teacher training and funds for prevention programs. Endo adds that presently he knows only three schools which attack bullying in their schools with funds available for this purpose – Central Middle School, Kailua Intermediate, and Waipahu Intermediate. These schools are not funded by the Department of Education or by the state, but have raised their own funds through other means such as grant applications. He hopes that schools statewide will be able to create similar programs soon with the help of the State Legislature.
