What Are We Doing?
- A Holiday weekend marred by the tragic incident at an elementary school in the small town of Uvalde, Texas. This sad event is another in the many mass school shootings that have ended the life of students, faculty, and staff. ROBB ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, May 2022, 21 dead. OXFORD HIGH SCHOOL, November 2021, 4 dead. SANTA FE HIGH SCHOOL, May 2018, 10 dead. MARJORY STONEMAN DOUGLAS HIGH SCHOOL, February 2018, 17 dead. UMPQUA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, October 2015, 9 dead. MARYSVILLE-PILCHUCK HIGH SCHOOL, October 2014, 4 dead. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA, May 2014, 6 dead. SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, December 2012, 27 dead. OIKOS UNIVERSITY, April 2012, 7 dead. NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, February 2008, 5 dead. VIRGINIA TECH, April 2007, 32 dead. WEST NICKEL MINES AMISH SCHOOL, October 2006, 5 dead. RED LAKE HIGH SCHOOL, March 2005, 9 dead. COLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL, April 1999, 13 dead. It has been twenty-three years since the Columbine High School tragedy, followed by twelve mass shooting incidents at our nation’s schools. What are we doing?
Over four years ago, I posted my take regarding the safety at our schools across America. Four years later, we are still asking ‘What are we doing?‘:
I will not comment on why a 19-year-old possessed an AR-15 rifle, groups of gun activists or gun control, or our divided political system. What I will comment on is school security. Don’t get me wrong, I put no blame on the high school administrators where last week’s massacre took place. My bewilderment relates to the ability of someone, anyone, who is able to enter a school with little security in place. As taxpayers, we support the use of schools using crossing guards to protect our children on a daily basis, but what about school security? With the mental instability of so many, why are many schools left unprotected with the ability to enter a school with little to no deterrent? I realize that the tax base funding to support school systems are different, but at a minimum, should we not employ off-duty police officers to protect our schools, no different than the school crossing guards who put their lives on the line every time they direct traffic? I know these questions may be trivial, but not to the families and friends who lost loved one’s last week. No matter the politics, gun control will be an issue for many years to come. So while our congressional leaders try to figure out what to do, can we not tackle the issue of security within our schools? That post was from four years ago. What are we doing?
- Active shooter incidents in 2021 surged by more than 50 percent from 2020 and nearly 97 percent from 2017, according to new FBI statistics released last Monday. In 2021, there were sixty-one active shooter incidents, defined as one or more people actively engaging in killing or trying to kill in a populated areas by firearm. That is an increase of 53 percent from 2020, when 40 active shooter incidents were reported. The number of cases also grew from 30 each in 2019 and 2018 and 31 in 2017. Does anyone have any comment and suggestion surrounding the question: What are we doing?
- For a many reasons, tomorrow is the most important holiday in the United States. Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May and was formerly known as Decoration Day. Memorial Day commemorates all who have died in military service for the United States. Tomorrow takes on additional significance with those around the world who have fallen in the war in Ukraine, those lost in the Buffalo supermarket shooting, and those who lost their lives in last week’s horrific mass shooting. If you have a flag, please honor our fallen veterans and victims, and fly your flag; if you don’t have one, please go buy one.
- Do the same issues we face today mimic 1971? Probably in some ways as the socio-economic unrest of fifty-one years ago parallels issues we still deal with today. Alvin Lee’s band, Ten Years After, produced this song in response to issues with the war in Vietnam, racial unrest, and a political system creating a monumental divide in America. Fifty-one years later, the song “I’d Love To Change the World” is never more relevant.
Spot on Gary. I pass by schools with beautiful playgrounds etc mostly funded by the PTA’s…..so why not spend a few dollars and make the school safe? There are many retired military and police that would gladly take the roll of security at these schools. Many say they don’t want guns in schools….well right now schools are battlefields…..so would you walk onto a battlefield without a weapon. This is such an easy fix….if my kids were still in school I as a parent would demand that the school protect my kids! Just my 2 cents! JP
Well said Joe.