March 22nd, 2017

Recently, Officer Mike, our School Resource Officer, visited with our Junior students. We reviewed how our school rules, such as “keep your hands and feet to yourself”, are similar to the laws in our society especially the ones that help keep everyone safe. Officer Mike helped students understand what assault is (purposely hurting another individual). In an unsafe situation, a person should use only enough force to get away so that he or she can run towards help. Using too much force could be considered assault. Under the law anyone who is assaulted is a victim, and an individual as young as 12 could be charged with assault. This discussion helped students see that there are consequences for breaking our laws and our school rules. Similar to the justice system, we enact Progressive Discipline when students break school rules. Officer Mike explained that when we act in anger that often gets us into trouble. He encouraged students to “think before you act” and says that “your actions and words matter”. These ideas match perfectly with our messages to our Elgin Community, and we thank Officer Mike for making the connections.