Could the Detroit Public School Board have prevented Henry Ford student shootings

Should the Detroit Public School Board have listened to warnings not to merge Henry Ford High School and Redford High School due to a history of rivalry between the gangs in each school?

Recently three teens shot four other teens in front of Henry Ford High School. One of the 16 year old students was killed.

The next day, local radio talk show hostess Mildred Gaddis and many of her callers discussed their beliefs that the Detroit School Board was responsible for these shootings.

Possibly the shootings could have been avoided if these schools were not merged. However, how can you blame the schools for the violence?

The killing was murder, pure and simple, and is the fault of the boys who “did the deed.” It is the fault of the parents who can not control their children, including one parent who is a Detroit police officer. I have also read that the boy who was shot was involved in one of the gangs, and had earlier been in a fight with his murderers.

The blame game doesn’t matter in this case, other than to try and learn from the incident and make necessary changes. I am sure that all of the families involved feel terrible. However, I am sure that the school officials also feel terrible, and what were they to do?

It is a complicated situation and there are no easy answers. However, it is time for people to take accountability for their own actions, and to stop blaming others.

If it made financial and logistical sense to combine these schools, then the Detroit School Board did the right thing.

To allow the gangs to dictate which schools stay open or get merged sends the wrong message and gives gangs even more power than they already have

Could the Detroit Public School Board have prevented Henry Ford student shootings?