It could happen to you
For years I have seen the aftermath of school shootings on the news. I sat sobbing watching the kids in Columbine. I’ve shed tears hearing of other shootings all over the country. Most of these school shootings were not in places we would stereotypically expect them; the inner city schools in the poor parts of towns in major cities. Many of these shootings were in affluent schools in small towns where the citizens never would have guessed it could happen to them.
We live in the midwest. We are hours from Detroit and hours from Chicago. But today I have school shootings on my mind.
I came home from school to an email from school superintendent. It was in regards to the high school. The high school that Justis attends. It said, “Today, your high school son or daughter has received a letter detailing information regarding a series of threats that were posted at the high school in reference to a high school administrator.”
According to Justis there were three notes found in the bathroom stating the principal will die on November 2nd. I’ve watched enough TV to know, no matter where you live, threats like these cannot be ignored. And, honestly, I’m scared.
The email continued on, “We have been diligently working with local law enforcement and in the upcoming days increased law enforcement and staff presence and vigilance will be apparent in our high school. We will have school every day this week and we encourage perfect attendance, cooperation, support and patience.”
In my head I know we can’t let these hoodlums win. We can’t let them know we’re afraid. But this is my child going to this school. I never thought there would be a day that I would see police officers in a school here in my community, let alone the school my children attend. That kind of thing just doesn’t happen here.
I haven’t really decided what I’m going to do yet. I really, really want to keep Justis home from school on Thursday. But I know that’s probably not the best thing to do. Police will be on campus all week, so, most likely, nothing will happen this week. But what about next week? Or the week after?
It’s probably just some stupid kids making statements they have no intention of backing up. However, we can’t just assume that. We need to be prepared. But how do you prepare your kids for something like this? I having enough trouble preparing myself.
The schools that my kids go to are all on the same campus. Different schools, but one large campus. The middle school, where Keaton is at, is just behind the high school. The elementary school, where Skyler & Spencer are at, is next to the middle school. The preschool Caleb attends is just a parking lot away. So every day from now to the end of the school year I have to worry that my kids are safe. And I don’t like worrying about their safety. I have knots in my stomach just typing about it now.
If you have any tips on how to prepare for a situation like this, I’d like to hear them. So share your knowledge, please.
Before Columbine, I would have said worrying is good but send Justis to school. After Columbine and all of the other school disasters, I would say this; “If there is even the slightest chance soemthing bad could happen based on the aforementioned letter, Justis get’s a free pass that day to do whatever he wants as long as it is NOT at school. An ounce of prevention is worth … well you know the rest.
[...] The principal at the high school is still alive. Yesterday was the day he was supposed to die. As far as I know there was no violence or any more threats on campus at all yesterday. It does little to ease my mind though. What about the next 100 plus days of school? These stupid kids don’t even think about the consequences of their actions or the fear they instill in everybody because they are mad or playing a practical joke or whatever. I hope they figure out who it was and prosecute them. I’ll keep you posted. [...]
I thought you might be interested to know that there is a new novel about school violence that goes deep into the psychology of the students. Not only does it address the fighting in a high schol but also the home and street lives of these kids. The book is called Almost Columbine.