Schools are a place for learning, not for fighting and temper tantrums.

But as an article in Tuesday's Butler Eagle reported, there is growing concern about student conduct in and around Butler schools.

As the article reported, 10 students at three schools in Butler Township face charges stemming from incidents within a one-week period. Police said all but one of the students was charged in Butler County juvenile court.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

But there could have been, based on facts about the incidents reported in the Eagle article. The incidents occurred at the Butler Senior and Intermediate high schools and at the Clarence C. Brown Special School.

The Butler School District is large in size, but that's no excuse for the kind of problems that the one week in question produced.

It's to be hoped that the schools will impose their own punishments on the students, in addition to what the courts mete out to the 10 students. It's possible that the students involved could benefit also from counseling or follow-up by quidance counselors or other school officials.

Schools must put additional effort into being proactive to prevent further incidents of fighting and violence.

Residents of Harmony engaged in a positive exercise in questioning proposed modifications to the borough's burning ordinance. Residents of all communities should pay attention to what their local leaders are doing.But the more stringent burning measure that the Harmony Borough Council passed on Tuesday is consistent with what should have been in effect all along.It prohibits the burning of recyclable materials. Effective May 1, residents no longer will be permitted to burn things such as brush, weeds, leaves, grass clippings and other vegetation — also items such as tires and industrial materials.Zelienople, which along with Harmony and Cranberry Township is seeking a $250,000 grant for construction of a new composting site, is expected to vote on a similar burning ordinance update Monday evening.The state Department of Environmental Protection had told Harmony that its existing burning law wasn't strong enough.The Harmony residents who expressed concern about the revised ordinance were fearful that the new measure would be too restrictive, especially in regard to recreational fires. However, a subsequent wording change in the ordinance quelled those fears.Such fires still will be permitted.Good laws are a product of elected officials' good judgment and input from residents.That's what happened with Harmony's new burning rules.

The future of this nation will be bright if many more young people like Connor Michael Harvey continue pursuing their goals and working on behalf of their communities' best interests.Harvey, who will be honored at a special Eagle Scout Court of Honor on Sunday, is the young man who, for his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project, rebuilt the Vietnam War Memorial for Cpl. David Hugh Smith on Whippo Avenue at the back of the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center complex.Smith, whose tour of duty in Vietnam began on Dec. 6, 1970, was killed during an exploratory mission in Cambodia on March 11, 1971. He was the 35th soldier from Butler County to die in the Southeast Asia conflict.But Connor Harvey's positive efforts didn't end with the completion of his war memorial effort. When, after completion of his project he had $1,150 remaining in his Eagle Scout project account, he donated $500 to the American Legion Riders for a bus trip for veterans that enabled former service personnel to tour the U.S. Capitol and memorials in Washington, D.C.; $350 to the Mechling-Shakley Veterans Center, a facility for homeless veterans; and $300 to the Yellow Ribbon Girls for use for the care packages that the group sends to soldiers serving overseas.Many of the materials for the project had been donated by local businesses, and veterans organizations made donations to the effort.It was on June 23 that a rededication of the memorial was held, attended by more than 150 people, including local government officials and members of veterans groups.To become an Eagle Scout, Connor earned 55 merit badges and served his troop — Troop 30, Glacier Ridge District, Moraine Trails Council — in a number of leadership positions. He is a member of the Order of the Arrow, Scouting's honor society, as well as a number of other groups, and excels scholastically. He plans to pursue a doctor of veterinary medicine degree.Connor's is the kind of success story other young people should emulate — if not in Scouting then in other venues.He is a credit not only to Scouting, but to Butler County, Pennsylvania and the nation.