2018 Education

2018 EDUCATION MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS MARCH 1, 2018 Page 31 and interacted with the students their entire high school career. Speaking recently about his role at the high school, he said that watching the students graduate was a great moment, and he marveled at some of the students who wore those caps and gowns. He had seen days when he wondered, would they graduate? Would they stick it out, and in the end they had. Butterfield said that he felt the move to an SRO program at the school has had a very positive impact on students. He noted that as a result of the SRO program, along with the improved surveillance and security at the school, critical elements such as students fighting and theft have been greatly reduced over the past five years. As an SRO, Butterfield attended a special training program sponsored through the National Association of School Resource Officers. The SRO training provided him with the tools for what the NASRO refers to as the “Triad” approach, to serve as law enforcement, teacher, and counselor. Being an SRO opens doors for Butterfield that are sometimes closed to school officials. Even though Butterfield is considered a member of the school administration, he is also still a member of law enforcement. Because of this he has the right to investigate and ask questions, and share information that school officials are bound by law to keep confidential. Butterfield says the reason this is important is because he has the ability to interact with other schools, learn about students transferring into LCHS and offer information about students transferring out. As a hypothetical example, he said a child coming to LCHS from an ‘anywhere USA’ school has a certain amount of information transferred. But, Butterfield as SRO has the right to contact the school, talk to teachers, and ask questions about character, behavior, interaction with other students, and identify any red flags. Butterfield said, yes, there is a certain amount of ‘profiling’ done in the job, but it is necessary to see who a kid is on the inside. He spoke about some of the recent shootings and the publicity that followed. “You see the kids pictured all dressed for prom or in a football uniform, but you have to look at who they are the rest of the time.” When shootings occur in other schools, it does have an impact locally on children and parents. Butterfield said it is very noticeable that for a period of time after such a shooting, he sees more activity from students and parents reporting “suspicious” activity, both first hand and also through the tip-line. He said things tend to get blown out of proportion during these aftermaths, and kids and parents get sucked into it. As a result, Butterfield, who is keeping a watchful eye all the time, becomes all the more vigilant during these aftermaths, knowing that a small CONTINUED →