Violence takes another turn
School violence used to be the faces of troubled teens who were bullied for years and just couldn't take it any more.
Now it is the faces of adults — known by the students and a member of the community who are brandishing firearms and fiendishly subjecting students to horrific crimes.
I'm sure school officials thought they had the violence issue figured out with the bully theory, and now it's changed.
Limited access to buildings is one way to control who comes and goes. But what about those people who have been in the schools numerous times — parents, delivery personnel? How do we protect our children from the people they know?
In larger school districts, metal detectors greet students at the doors. Armed security personnel roam the halls.
In Marion County, reporters discovered security cameras are used in some schools. Safety training has been taken. Law enforcement, school officials, and teachers are ready for the unthinkable.
Where do we draw the line? How can there be a safe yet conducive environment for our children to learn? Bars on the windows, locked doors, surveillance equipment, and door buzzers certainly could make learning secondary.
It's not healthy to have children so overwhelmed and consumed about potential violence that it keeps them awake at night and produces a paranoid personality trait.
There are no easy answers when there are so many disturbed people in the world.
Yes, folks, this could happen in Marion County. We pray that it does not. But if it does, it's comforting to know school personnel are as prepared as reasonably possible.
— SUSAN BERG
