Z-Squared targets weapons

     By Tina Allen
     View staff writer
      The Clark County School District is implementing a new formula amounting to Z-Squared by subtracting weapons brought to school by pupils.
      The program, also known as Zero Weapons/Zero Tolerance, is a community-wide effort involving school police; local law enforcement agencies in Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Mesquite, Henderson and Boulder City; community agencies; parents and students.
      Capt. Terry Lesney with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Gang Intervention said the program is an initiative conceived by Clark County Sheriff Jerry Keller after the rash of school shootings in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon and Mississippi.
      "He didn't want one of our kids going home in a body bag," Lesney said.
      Last year, police recovered 67 guns from pupils on Clark County school campuses, 29 percent higher than the previous year. Lesney said reasons pupils bring weapons to school often stem from fear or out of ignorance or for show-and-tell purposes. And sometimes they are brought to be used, she said.
      The district plans to amplify a number of existing programs to get its message across, including Teens Against Prejudice and Ace Out Drugs, by tying them together, as well as create new ones. Conflict resolution and conflict mediation programs presently are being put in place at all school levels, including elementary.
      "It is very statistically proven that your elementary school bullies, if unchecked, grow into the leaders of gang-type movements when they get older," said Karla McComb, Clark County School District's assistant director for Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Project Multicultural Education. "The problem doesn't disappear, it gets worse."
      Funded by an anonymous private donor, Z-Squared also will be approaching the anti-weapon issue from a curricular standpoint, by providing more attention to anti-violence movements in United States history classes.
      McComb said about 200 pupils have signed pledge cards, so far, promising never to bring a gun to school, never to use a gun to settle a dispute and to use their influence to keep their friends from using guns to settle disputes.
      "It doesn't mean anything in terms of it will never happen," McComb said about the pledge cards, "but what it does is raise student awareness about what they personally can do to help solve this problem."
      The program is divided into three parts: prevention, intervention and enforcement. Lesney said law enforcement is looking into possibly installing metal detectors in schools to make pupils aware that weapons will not be tolerated. They also are planning to patrol campuses more often. And one of the efforts by the Z-Squared committee is aimed at being consistent with the penalties for those who are caught with weapons.
      McComb said many of the issues dealing with violence in schools are closely related to issues the district deals with regarding the diversity of the student population.
      "We're talking about students understanding each other, students being strong enough to resist temptations," McComb said. "Our district has grown so tremendously that the diversity of our classrooms is much more obvious than it used to be."
      Clark County has the ninth largest school district in the nation and is among the fastest growing. McComb said the Z-Squared committee is looking at plans to include more programs on racism and hate crime prevention in the near future.
      "I think the key is we try to be proactive about the issues of violence," McComb said. "We are not suggesting that our schools are dangerous places. But what we are suggesting is we know ways to help the staff at schools anticipate difficulties before they happen.