Shootings Prompt UI Discussion

Thu., April 22, 1999

Staff Report

In response to concerns over the massacre at Columbine High School, University of Idaho officials are having a noontime forum today to discuss preparing future teachers for school violence.

The Littleton, Colo., school shooting dominated discussions in many education classes Wednesday as UI students training to be teachers expressed frustration at not being better prepared for the real world problems of their future vocation.

“There were a lot of tears in the classroom today,” said education professor George Canney, who is helping organize the forum. Student concerns were shared by faculty and administrators who scrambled to set up today’s discussion.

“It’s a growing awareness, a reality check, that the real world for our children can be highly dangerous and as adults we need to do far more to create healthy environments for children,” Canney said.

UI College of Education officials are in the midst of redesigning their curriculum to include counseling courses for future classroom teachers aimed at preventing and responding to school violence.

Students, faculty in the College of Education and Moscow School District officials are expected at the open forum, slated for noon to 1 p.m. in front of the College of Education building.

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