Knocked Down but Not Gone

II read how the town of Newtown, Connecticut recently bulldozed Sandy Hook Elementary School, sight of the horrific shootings in December of 2012.  While I understand the want and need to knock the building down, I think it speaks volumes about our national mindset when it comes to violence, and our schools.

Yes, a school and the horrific memories of what happened there can be knocked down, but that's not going to change anything related to the crime.  As I am writing this, there have been a number of shootings in public places (LAX in California, the Garden State Plaza Mall here in New Jersey) within a week of each other.  Also, a school in Colorado was just broken into by two young boys dressed in black and carrying what turned out to be bebe guns.  Two weeks ago (October 21) there was a shooting at a middle school in Nevada and of course the horrible killing of a teacher in Massachusetts. We can keep knocking buildings down or trying to move on in other ways, but what we really need to do is change policies.

A school is a structure that is home to our children for an average of thirty-five hours a week.  Our kids spend more time at school with their teachers than they do with us - their parents.  Don't you want to send your children to school knowing there are national policies in place to protect them while they're there?  Or do we just want to sit around and wait for the next one?

I grew up in the 70's in what was a rural part of New Jersey.  So rural in fact, there was no daily mail delivery.  We would all gather and stand in line at the Post Office on Saturday morning to retrieve a week's worth of letters, bills, etc.  My middle school was at the end of a farm road and was surrounded by woods and farmland.  Like many middle schools, we had clubs and organizations of which the most popular was the Hunting and Fishing Club.  This club had so many members, that it almost filled the entire cafeteria.  Now here's the crazy part: when clubs met, kids in the Hunting and Fishing Club would bring their guns to school.  If a student forget their gun - their parent would come and drop it off.  I have vivid memories of walking past the cafeteria and seeing about 75 kids sitting down with assorted weapons on the table.

When I tell people about this I always ask "Is this a commentary on how naive we were or how crazy our society has gotten?"  The thing is, when all of those kids had their guns in school the thought or idea of someone taking their gun and killing students and/or teachers never crossed anyone's mind.  The thought of that happening was insane.  I am not saying this was a smart move by my school and am not defending it.  In fact, maybe it was a bit nuts.  But again, is this a commentary on where we were or where we've gone?

I think it's safe to say the current gun laws and policies in our country are severely outdated.  The fact that background checks were voted down seems almost as crazy as...allowing kids to bring guns to school.

If you ask me, it's time to knock down current gun laws so we can stop knocking down schools.