Sunday, December 16, 2012

A Tough Day Ahead

It is hard to imagine the grief that is going through the lives of the people of Newtown, CT this morning. It is even harder to imagine losing a child, as young as 5 years old to anything, let alone a gunman's rifle. Yet, those are the questions and the frustrations that will perplex people for a long time. For many Americans it comes on the heels of many similar, violent attacks over the past year.

People will be fighting for gun control, others are crying for mental health control, and everyone will be criticizing the news media for getting many details wrong and sensationalizing the story for viewer attention.

The one thing remains, 27 children and teachers are dead at the hand of a young man that needed help,  and used guns, owned by his mother, who became the first of his victims that Friday morning.

The toughest day for school leaders, everywhere, will be Monday, December 17. How do you walk back into your own school knowing that with the best security systems possible, it will not be enough to protect against this kind of active shooter scenario? What do you say to your faculty, students, and parent community? How do you make it through the day?

So, for those who constantly criticize schools and school leaders, how about cutting them a break for awhile, and be supportive and sympathetic for the job they have to do in not only educating your children, but protecting them, and risking their lives for them.