2018 Education

2018 EDUCATION MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS MARCH 1, 2018 Page 33 “fair” and that there are proper ways to deal with difficult situations and hard times. At the school, the job of the SRO can also provide an open forum for parents. Along with Assistant Principal Hyde, Butterfield will make himself available to hear from parents when they have concerns. He said this is important for the school, but it is also important for the parents. He noted that there are times, when a parent really doesn’t want to share with family or friends that their child has a problem. Hyde and Butterfield can become a sounding board for those concerns, assist parents with addressing the problems and as- needed can help parents connect with other counseling experts for the child. Butterfield said in addition to himself and Ms. Hyde, the school has two guidance counselors who are trained to help address family issues and a counselor from a local mental health service is also available. Another portion of Butterfield’s job includes classroom time. He said on a regular basis he goes into classrooms for an open forum session with the kids. He said kids may ask whatever questions they wish. Some of the questions he said he can’t answer in the classroom because of privacy rules, but many of the questions are about life situations and he can help with that. Teaching kids how to cope with difficulties is an important part of preparing them for the world outside of school. Life isn’t going to be easy. There are always going to be trouble makers, and problems a person has to deal with in their personal life. Teaching kids in childhood that violence, revenge, retaliation is not the answer will give those kids a good start in dealing with the problems they may face in adulthood. Asked about the relationships he forms with the students, Butterfield said that the relationships change throughout the school year. When school begins, he lays down the rules as a member of law enforcement. He said he is stern in his attitude toward kids, holding to the rules and the consequence if they don’t. At that time he feels most of the kids see him as an officer of the law, a “cop” if you will. But as the school year progresses, the relationship becomes a little more relaxed. Butterfield wants the kids to see him as law enforcement, but also as a mentor and counselor, someone they can trust and can talk to about all their concerns. He added that he really wouldn’t say that close friendships are CONTINUED →