Oct 10
2006

Steve & I discussed the school shooting last evening when he got home. Each of the children had brought home a note from the School Superintendent intended to make us feel safe and secure because “The district’s crisis plan and training paid off tremendously. As soon as the situation arose, the building was locked down…”

Of course, the letter was so busy patting the administration on the back that it didn’t address why or how a 13-yr-old boy walked into the school building through an unlocked side door and made his way to the 3rd floor of the building carrying a MAC-90 assault rifle and wearing a trench coat and mask! Or mention that if the gun hadn’t jammed after the first shot that the situation would have been much more tragic and more than a water pipe would have been injured.

I was at Joplin High School yesterday morning dropping off some forgotten items for Jon shortly after the whole thing happened. The gal, who sits at the front door supposedly checking people as they come in and issuing passes, was so busy fielding phone calls from irate parents that she just waved 3 separate people into the building with barely a glance. Very effective! But don’t worry “Your child’s safety is our top priority.”

Steve thinks I’m overreacting when I say that I feel like snatching the kids out of school and home-schooling them. Gov. Matt Blunt, who came to Joplin yesterday afternoon, seems to be poised to jump on the ARM THE TEACHERS! bandwagon proposed by Rep. Frank Lassee (Republican-WI). I have to say that I am leery of my children being in a classroom with an armed teacher. I have all kinds of concerns over how well trained they might be, access to the firearms by other students, and what if they have a really crappy day and just go postal? I don’t know what the solution is to all of this violence. I do know that I can’t really protect our children from all of the bad things that might happen to them. It scares the shit out of me but I refuse to live in fear every time they walk out the door. I suppose I should be feeling optimistic since Pres. Bush is convening a conference on school safety and is making a pledge to do what he can to keep our children safe. But really – that just makes me even more afraid. (Go ahead Steve – yuck it up that I’ve lost confidence in the president I helped elect - I know you’ve been waiting for me to admit it for a long time)

On the lighter side of darkness in the world….here’s a cool puzzle for you from dark M&Ms. It’s a medieval-art-style painting. Hidden in the painting are visual riddles that equate to the titles of “dark films.” You can zoom in and out on parts of the painting. The game is timed but you can pause it. You can also save your results and come back to it another time. Enjoy!