School Safety Without Peer : Cracking down on crime by students

The Los Angeles Unified School District is considering monetary rewards for students who report peers who carry weapons, deal drugs or engage in vandalism. A majority on the Board of Education is leaning in favor of the proposal, which will face its first test at a safety committee meeting next week. The money would come from private sources.

This notion is not new. In 1993, then-City Councilwoman Joy Picus proposed that the city make $15,000 available for rewards for schoolchildren. This is an idea whose time has come. Why? One factor is the level of violence in the schools, a level that makes it difficult to focus on learning. Another is illicit drugs. In December, undercover police agents at just 10 Los Angeles high schools arrested 201 suspected drug dealers. You would have to go back to 1988 to find more arrests in a semester.

It’s true that a Ventura County school district reward program failed, but Antelope Valley High School students have been breaking the loyalty code that traditionally exists among youngsters. In just two months, 38 students there have been arrested for gun or drug possession and/or drug dealing. The student informants came forward for rewards of $25.

The LAUSD should consider this: If the district wants to protect the anonymity of students--and that protection is crucial--then cash rewards of $25 to $50 may be better than movie gift certificates or merchandise worth $75. If a poor student suddenly takes 10 of his buddies to the movies or shows up with a new portable CD player, anonymity could be out the door. And to protect against frivolous reports, rewards should be withheld until arrests are made.

Anyone who thinks that this small amount of money would somehow corrupt students will have to explain why it has been perfectly fine for years for adults nationwide to earn huge sums for turning in their peers.