SCENARIO
You are the principal of a public high school located in Midwest City, North Carolina – an
average sized metropolitan area. Teachers in the school have been complaining that disruptive
and sometimes violent student behavior is on the increase and they want something done to
maintain order in the school. The school district has received a grant to address violence among
students. The school board has asked you to help decide if you want to use the grant money to
support two full-time school resource officers in your school. School resource officers (SROs)
are career law enforcement officers who are stationed in public schools to perform a number of
duties, including mentoring, responding to disciplinary issues and, if necessary, detain and arrest
students. If you decide against using school resource officers the money will be given to another
school in the district.
QUESTION
Your job is to determine whether you should use the grant money to support two school resource
officers (SROs). The school board has given you one week to write a response clearly stating
whether or not you would recommend spending the money on SROs.
Read Documents A through E, and use only these documents to make your decision.
Then write a report (500-1000 words) that:
1. Reviews the arguments for and against SROs
2. Describes the ethical implications of criminalizing delinquent behavior.
3. Assesses diversity issues as they relate to SROs.
4. Includes a statement that reflects your decision about whether SRO programs should be
implemented based on the substantive evidence.
5. Comments on what evidence was used to assist you in your decision and what evidence
was not used (if applicable) and why. Explain whether or not each document was a
credible source, moderately credible, or not credible at all and why. Indicate which
documents you used to make your decision.
