VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS

VIOLENCE IN SCHOOLS
Introduction by Mario González-Román
No favor was done to Mexico when terrorists crashed two American Airlines planes into New York’s World Trade Center in the incident known simply as 9/11. As never before in history, the United States reinforced its internal security, reducing (to a certain degree) the flow of drugs that are in demand from a society with the largest drug addiction problem in the world. As a consequence, drugs originally destined for the U. S. and Canada can now be found circulating within the Mexican Republic, especially in the territory that borders with the U. S., including Ciudad Juarez, Tijuana, Nuevo Laredo, Matamoros and other traditional crossing points.
Origin of Current Wave of Violence in Mexico
On both sides of the border, we have had seen bilateral governmental cooperation grow both during President Vicente Fox's administration and especially so since President Felipe Calderón took office on 2nd December 2006. This combined action has led to the arrests of drug lord barons who are now behind bars in Mexico, creating intensified fighting over control of this illicit market. This is the origin of the current wave of violence that is plaguing us, especially in those states that border with the US and in other drug producing Mexican states such as Sinaloa, Michoacán and Veracruz.
Mexico, Second Most Dangerous Country for Reporters after Iraq
According to Reporters without Borders 2007 Mexico Annual Report, with nine journalists murdered and three missing, the country has the worst record in the Americas in 2006 and was second only to Iraq for the number killed, despite the establishment in February of a special federal court to punish physical attacks on the media. Murders of local newspaper reporters in all these areas have become routine. According to several media sources, up to March 2006 some twenty reporters have been killed during the last six years.
Drug War and Spring Breakers
Traditional international tourist destinations such as Cancún and Acapulco have become the center of horrible blood baths during the last few months, as never seen before. This was a symbolic preamble to the visit of more than 100,000 Spring Breakers coming from every corner of the U. S. and Canada. Many of these, young adults – who consume drugs during their visit- party, drink in excess and engage in rowdy behavior. Hundreds will end up in Mexican jails, keeping their Consular Agencies busy. The problem is so evident that this is the warning to these young men and women – ISSUED BY THE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, OFFICIALLY- before they make a “mistake” and end up in serious legal trouble:
SPRING BREAK IN MEXICO – “Know Before You Go!”
However, despite all this horrible violence that has invaded Mexico recently, this link will allow you to access and assess what was reported in 2004 in the United States with regards to Public Safety and Violent Crime: 16,137 murders in a country with a population of 290,788,976. We wonder what their current trend is. If readers have more recent, reliable statistics, these would be welcome in Security Corner.
Travel Warnings
- Mexico, February 23, 2007
In summary, standards of security, safety and supervision may not reach those expected in the United States. This has contributed to deaths of U.S. citizens in automobile accidents, after falls from balconies or into open ditches, by drowning in the ocean as well as in hotel pools, and in water-sports mishaps, among others. Large metropolitan areas in Mexico City, Monterrey, Guadalajara have seen an increase of violence in the streets. U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza has in the past issued Travel Warnings -- an example soon followed by the British and Canadian Embassies in Mexico – and temporarily closed the Consulate in Nuevo Laredo to get the attention of the Mexican Government ofthis which is escalating to historic levels: increased violence in the border areas including kidnappings, assassinations and other criminal activity. In this issue, we’ll discuss a very sensitive topic: Drugs, Alcohol and Violence in schools. We’ll begin by taking a look at the current situation in the United States, based on what we found from several reliable informative sources.
SCHOOL SHOOTINGS
The Latest: During the early morning hours of April 16, 2007 a gunman went on a rampage on the Virginia Tech campus. By the time he was done, more than 30 students and faculty members were dead. Complete coverage, by CNN.
Fifth girl dies after Amish school shooting, Lancaster County, Penn. 10/3/06 by CNN
HISTORY OF MOST RECENT SCHOOL SHOOTINGS:
- September 29, 2006: Weston High School, Cazenovia, Wisconsin: 15 year old boy shot his principal
- September 27, 2006: Platte Canyon High School, Bailey, Colorado –not far from Columbine High School- 6 female students held hostage, 1 girl shot to death
- September 13, 2006: Dawson College, Montreal, Quebec, man opened fire, killed one person, leaving 20 injured
- November 8, 2005: Campbell County Comprehensive High School, Jacksboro, Tennessee, 15 year old boy shot his principal, two assistants (killed one).
- March 21, 2005: Red Lake Senior High School, Red Lake, Minnesota, 16 yr. old boy killed his father, girlfriend and 5 students
- September 24, 2003: Rocori High School, Cold Spring, Minnesota, 15 yr. old killed 17 year old + a second student
- April 24, 2003: Red Lion Area Junior High School, Red Lion, Pennsylvania, 14 yr. old shot his principal.
IN ADDITION: New Charges for Father of Boy Involved in Day-Care Shooting by Ernesto Londoño, Washington Post Staff Writer, Saturday, April 15, 2006; Page B07: The Montgomery County man whose son shot an 8-year-old girl at a day-care center is facing new charges for allegedly stabbing and striking the boy's mother in her apartment building hallway.
- Teenage gunman killed nine in Minnesota
- April 1999: Two teenagers shoot dead 12 pupils and a teacher, then kill themselves at Columbine School, Colorado
- May 1998: Fifteen-year-old shoots dead two pupils in a school cafeteria in Oregon
- March 1998: Two boys, aged 11 and 13, kill four girls and a teacher in Arkansas
- October 1997: Teenager stabs mother, then shoots dead two pupils at a school in Mississippi
Click Here to read a study by CNN on School Violence in the United States.
On September 2, 2000, US Attorney General Janet Reno said “Youth violence has been one of the greatest single crime problems we face in this country.” FBI’s Assessment on School Violence.
MEXICO
Teenager Injured, 3 & 7 yr. old sister & brother stabbed to death in Monterrey
On March 5, 2006 Mexico was shocked by news from Monterrey that a 21 year old State of Nuevo Leon Autonomous University student named Diego Santoy, while drugged, had seriously injured his 18 year old girlfriend after stabbing to death her 3 and 7 year old siblings. Tere Coss, well-known in Monterrey TV and media circles is Diego’s mother. He was arrested in a road block in the State of Oaxaca, as he was fleeing, en route to Central America.
Relevant Sites About the Situation in Mexico
Alcohol Awareness Program for parents: American School Foundation in Guadalajara
State Department - US Consulate, Tijuana: .. “Worldwide, MEXICO has the largest number of arrests of U. S. citizens abroad and the largest U. S. prisoner population outside the United States”. Specifically, Mexico's criminal justice system, A guide for U.S. Citizens arrested in Mexico. Refer to INTRODUCTION.
American citizens are warned about the risks that they take as tourists in Tijuana, which may land them in jail if local laws are not respected.
Three specific WARNINGS are made that- in my opinion- are important:
- Whoever facilitates, induces, causes or forces a minor or disabled person to be filmed, videotaped or photographed committing lewd or sexual acts.
- It is illegal and prohibited to possess, buy, consume, traffic, or sell street drugs. There is no legal right, as in some places in the United States, to possess a small quantity of street drugs for so-called “personal use.” In Mexico, to possess any quantity of a street drug is a crime.
- Under no circumstances should you buy or pay for a prescription that is not part of treatment from a licensed physician. If you and the doctor or pharmacist were to become involve in this type of activity or business, you would all be committing a serious federal crime.
ABOVE-MENTIONED PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES ARE CONSIDERED SERIOUS CRIMES AND ARE SANCTIONED BY JAIL TERMS