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Introduction
Public Administrators do not give communication in an organization or in a society the importance it demands. Whether it is a governmental organization or non-governmental organization, data flows through different channels of communication to enhance the productivity of the employers and benefits of the stakeholders.
In public organizations, communication is more complex because it occurs vertically, horizontally, internally and externally between the employees, subordinates, other department heads, interests groups and public masses. If public administrators are not prudent about this type of communication then a lot of serious problems might occur which can make the whole society suffer to a great extend.
The most common, controversial and unavoidable is the communication that takes place between the public and the governmental agencies. As the society progresses, various factors most importantly, media and technology influence this type of communication and changes its patterns. The policy makers and the public servants have to take actions that satisfy every group in a society. For this purpose, they often change their policies so that better results are obtained for stabilization.
Often, the government fails to develop trust between the public because it finds faults or inadequacy in their decisions or actions. On the other hand, policy makers do not aim to create perfect policies; they create policies after carefully considering interests of different groups and then act upon them.
The Incident of Columbine High School, 1999
Since 1996, the two teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had been involved in violent and psychopathic activities. The town police was well aware of their activities that included showing hatred towards other people, discussing about weapons and giving dangerous death threats to some students and teachers of Columbine High School. Mother of Harris’s friend had filed numerous complains to the town police department due to which a detective was also assigned to investigate the case; however no serious action was taken. Michael Guerra intended to search Harris’s house but he did not do so.
It was when Eric and Dylan stole certain equipment that they were arrested and were found guilty for the theft that occurred during January, 1998. The court sent them to ‘juvenile diversion program’ after which they were discharged. Later on, they behaved normally while attending anger management classes and psychologists. However, in reality they were plotting a very violent act and wanted the police to keep off their matter. The government agencies became totally shunned with these two boys who later caused one of the deadliest massacres in the history of United States. The investigations also suggested that the medication Eric Harris was given might have also triggered uncontrollable anger and suicidal thoughts.
If we analyze the massacre or shooting incident that took place during 1999 at the Columbine High School, we find that this single incident caused the government to be more alert and change their actions. The lack of proper communication is what led the two teenage killers enough time to plot the massacre and then commit suicides. After this incident, newer policies were formed and the S.W.A.T renewed their processes.
It is highly observable that before the shooting at Columbine incident, there was a poor public scrutiny; every school in the United States has kids that could be very harmful for the society. In such situations, the alignment of local and public government agencies is very much important. Teams need to be formed whose sole job is to investigate such cases very carefully and take appropriate actions at the right time.
Conclusion
As a public administrator, communicating properly with others is of great significant; otherwise a lot of issues could be developed that will cause misinterpretation and inadequacy of information. Moreover, there will not be a proper flow of data. Nowadays, there are various factors especially media that can distort, imbalance and bias the information being exchanged; hence proper channels should be developed to ensure competent communication particularly between the public administrator and the public.
The public servants should gain public confidence by talking to them directly through using the same technology that might cause bias amongst them. Through radio and television interviews we can ask for public’s opinions and queries on various cases. This enhances the public relations to a great extend. On the other hand, the public administrators get knowledge, which they did not have before on issues that may or may not have arisen but can arise. Afterwards, they can plan strategies or take actions at the right time that will make the society better and keep away dangerous activities .
Reference
Stillman, R. J. (2009). Public Administration: Concepts and Cases. Boston: Cengage Learning.
