bridging the gap between law enforcement and young people at school. School Resource Offi- cers are sworn law enforcement officers whose “beats” are school campuses. Tey work directly with school administrators and school security/safety profes- sionals as partners to protect everyone at school. NASRO’s stance is, by train- ing law enforcement to educate, counsel and protect schools and their communities; SROs can lead by example and promote a positive image to students. “Tat’s what our training
revolves around. Everything we do, that is the common goal,” said Canady. “When there’s a collaborative agreement between law enforcement and a school district, that’s when
there’s success. When they get together, put something in writing and create a Memoran- dum of Understanding, that’s when you build a foundation for success.” When it comes to student
transportation, Canady said SROs can play a key role. Tey can form a good relationship with school bus drivers, who might see or hear something suspicious on the school bus before any other school official would know. “When school bus drivers
and SROs have a positive relationship, it changes the way drivers perceive law enforce- ment, and then they are more likely to report criminal acts,” he noted, and added that SROs should also be engaged in the
training process for bus drivers. “I think drivers are very recep- tive to that. Tere are a lot of things SROs can bring to their training about safety overall on the school bus.” Coincidentally, at press time
Canady was fielding questions from the media about a newly released school safety plan sup- ported and financially backed by the National Rifle Associa- tion that, among other things, addresses SROs. Te plan calls for better SRO
training for longer periods of time for better weapon reten- tion and a greater understand- ing on how to coordinate with local law enforcement. Com- prised of recommendations, the plan in general is aimed at pro- viding schools with more armed
guards, better training and recommendations for state and federal lawmakers to approve the proper initiatives and make proper funding available. Canady’s official response to the media? “Local communities are
going to make decisions that are best for their schools and their children. Tat’s what it comes down to. And certainly they’re looking for guidance wherever they can,” he said. “We’re trying to speak overall about what we know best, and that is, how effective SRO programs have been over last several years. We’re trying our best to stay in our lane, but we’ve had some difficult questions to answer.”
— Sylvia Arroyo
ate about giving back to the country that gave so much to me and my family.” But what troubles him, he added, is the political infighting, from Washington to individual states to municipalities, that is detracting from the goal of provid- ing every child a quality education, and funding the necessary infrastructure to make that a reality. “Te thing that does alarm me is,
clearly, we are in a deficit and there clearly will have to be spending cuts. But my big concern is, if we don’t make those cuts intelligently and if we don’t also figure out a way to grow, get jobs back and make critical investments we need in education and infrastructure, that ultimately we’ll be shortchanging our fu- ture,” Kwon said. “I want my kids to have the same opportunities I had when I was growing up. I don’t want to see us make short-term decisions that will undermine the American dream.” Tat was the basis for him becoming
involved with the “America Revealed” project. Kwon said his goal in life was never to become a television personality. He auditioned for “Survivor” in an effort to overcome his self-confidence issues and to help change stereotypes. His real goal was to help people by using his law degree to affect public policy, especially for education. He worked on the American Recovery
THE MANY SUCCESSES OF YUL KWON
Due in part to school busing, Kwon ex- æ
celled in school, working his way through the public-school system and graduating as valedictorian of Northgate High School in Walnut Creek, Calif. With the help of fi- nancial aid and scholarships, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from nearby Stanford Uni- versity with a degree in symbolic systems. He was then accepted to Yale Law School, where he served on the editorial board of the Yale Journal. Since, he has clerked for Judge Barrington Parker in the United States Second Circuit Court of Appeals and later practiced communications law. Kwon also served as legislative aid to former U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman and helped draft legislation to increase funding for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathemat- ics (STEM) Education. He also authored a landmark bill on nanotechnology and orga- nized a congressional caucus on science and technology. Kwon transitioned to the private sector as a management consultant before joining Google’s business operations and strategy group and, most recently, Facebook to en- sure the social media company’s products and services meet privacy standards.
www.stnonline.com 59
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