Thoughts on a security alert...

When I received the message through our school notification system that something had hit the airwaves causing "school administrators and local police authorities to not only be aware but diligent in investigating any and all safety situations,” needless to say, it got my attention.  But you know what it didn’t do?  It didn’t make me want tougher gun laws.

So how can I say such a thing, right?  How cold and insensitive of me?  Stay with me for a minute (or go ahead and unfriend me-it’s your call) and I’ll walk you through my thought process in regard to the facts and the truth (as I see it)…  

Fact:  Until you get a safety related message from a place where your child spends eight hour a day, you have no idea how you might respond so if you haven’t been there, do the rest of us a favor and stop pretending like you have.  It's NOT funny.

Fact:  There was no mention of the real issue in the email I received, only vaguely worded mention that some safety issue was being investigated.  Yet it didn’t take my mind more than an instant to focus on recent events.

Truth:  There’s another broken person in our midst.

Truth:  People that are hurting hurt others.

Truth:  If mental illness were visible there would be a line of people waiting for help wrapped around the earth twice over. 

Truth:  When I received that email this afternoon, thoughts about tougher gun laws didn’t cross my mind because I’m smart enough to know that broken people will find a way around whatever the obstacle be it a wall or a fine or a law. I went the direct opposite and my first thought was that I need to rally an Army to protect my kid, and his friends, and kids I remember buttoning coats and tying shoes for when I taught kindergarten, and my friends’ kids, and the wonderful teachers and staff in our district that have become like family over the years.

Truth:  What we need is better access to mental health care, and early intervention, and more accessible social work, and we also need more involved parents…  Sadly those buzz words don’t win elections.

We guard our money, and our artwork, and our airports.  The local mall has armed security in place for the designer handbags.  There are more security measures in place at a rock concert than a school.  Fact is, there are more security measures in place in the DVD section at Barnes and Noble than we afford our kids. 

The events of today strengthen my resolve that our schools should be the SAFEST PLACES ON EARTH for our children and I honestly don't believe waiting for some overreaching power to develop a plan to rescue our kids when trouble comes is getting the job done. Instead, I think it’s time that the resolve of reasonable people swing the other way.  Rather than sitting around waiting for something bad to happen, shouldn’t we be taking the fight to the threat?  Shouldn’t we be going to any length to put the right tools in the hands of the right people to help protect our kids?