God bless our teachers, principals and school personnel.
The trust we place in them and the responsibility they shoulder when we send our children to them every day is monumental and never to be taken for granted.
When a deranged man began his assault on Sandy Hook Elementary school last Friday, principal Dawn Hochsprung ran down the hall and attempted to tackle the shooter. She paid with her life. School psychologist Mary Sherlach was also shot and killed running at the gunman. Teachers Lauren Rosseau and Victoria Soto died trying to protect their kids. 20 innocent children were murdered in their school.
The shock and horror we all felt upon hearing the news is immediately followed by the questions. How? Why?
My immediate reaction was: If only principal Hochsprung had something other then her body to throw at the killer. If only the first person to run toward the madman were trained and armed to stop the terror then and there.
The Sunday news shows were all dedicated exclusively to coverage and commentary on the Sandy Hook carnage. I watched George Stephanopolous’ ABC news program in despair as the talking heads gravely discussed more laws, more gun control, more psychiatrists and there was NOT A SINGLE MENTION of self-defense. The school had a new security system which didn’t work. The state has tough gun laws which didn’t work. The school was in a “gun-free zone” which not only didn’t work, it may have contributed to the death count.
Today I am all for higher spending for our schools. I would happily pay any school administrator or teacher a big bonus for taking a good self-defense gun class and for keeping a weapon secured but available for quick response. If that is too unpalatable for the majority of parents, I would support hiring an armed security guard for every school.
Our schools have rules upon rules to keep kids safe. None of which mean a damn thing to a maniac hell-bent on murder and mayhem.
Should we be teaching our children that we all must go through life in fear of, or victims of, any soul-less, suicidal psycho who wants his 15 seconds of fame? Shouldn’t they grow up with the security of knowing that having the ability to defend one’s self, family, friends, and innocent others is a good thing?
Priority: We must have armed and trained personnel at every school who are capable of saving the lives of our children when the unthinkable happens.
Tom Balek – Rockin’ On the Right Side
Bless the beasts and the children
For in this world they have no voice
They have no choice
Bless the beasts and the children
For the world can never be
The world they see
Light their way when the darkness surrounds them
And give them love, let it shine all around them
Bless the beasts and the children
Give them shelter from the storm
Keep them safe, keep them warm
Bless the Beasts and the Children – Karen Carpenter
Rockin' On The Right Side 
I want to see those “gun free zones” banned. Every last one of them. And I want to see educators trained and armed. But more than that. I want to see educators who are not marxists, communists, progressives, socialists, union thugs, indoctrinating our children to embrace their own enemies and to vote for their own demise. Those “educators” are the reason we see so many glassy eyed idiots wandering around today, ignorant to what’s happening and voting based on popularity, racial makeup and mob mentality. I want to see those schools shut down and the NEA abolished. I want to see them ALL in handcuffs, awaiting trial and punishment for their crimes against our society and our citizens. And after the those indoctrination camps are shut down for oood, I want to see EDUCATORS who are executive level employees, paid for by private citizens, and armed with the tools necessary to safely lead classrooms of future American Citizens.
AMEN!!!
Your dissertation is excellent, Tom. Yet, we have the liberals, led by the Pretender in the White House taking advantage of this tragedy. How about the video games, commercials, Hollywood, and mostly taking God out of the equation at every juncture. We may even factor in government oppression on the people that cause some of the adults to perpetrate crimes. The pressure on the American people is horrendous today, and if a person is not spiritually grounded, tragedies happen.
I understand everyone’s anger. There is a lot that we don’t know about this situation yet. I’m sure this will become a political football, but now is not the time for that. I just want to make the point that our constitution gives us the right to protect ourselves and others from evil, and that gift from our clear-headed forefathers is almost unique in the world. Good and evil exist – rather than live in fear and denial, we have to be able to distinguish between the two, and fight for the good. What is more basic in that fight than protecting children?
As a union thug (thanks Pitbull, I didn’t know what to call myself) teacher, I want you to know that I agree with you, Tom. It might be safer to have armed police officers guarding the schools (but who could afford that); plus I was always a little miffed when we were told we couldn’t have a weapon to defend ourselves locked somewhere close by in our classroom. Having a few teachers who were trained to use guns would seem to decrease the number of wackos attacking schools full of innocent children. I know we had Vietnam Vets who had become teachers in the schools where I taught. Most of them were also avid hunters so they knew how to use a gun. It might not be the best idea, but at least we would have a chance.
Mike, I agree with you – we are putting the lives of our children in their teachers’ hands every day – why WOULDN’T we give teachers (or allow them) the tools and the authority to save the kids’ lives?
I have a good friend who is a retired Homeland Security guy (Blackhawk pilot) who is impeccably trained, very patriotic and concerned about our security issues, and going stir-crazy in his forced early-retirement. He has said he, and others like him, would VOLUNTEER to keep schools safe. I agree there is a tremendous resource available there, going wasted, but I don’t think the volunteer aspect is appropriate – these men and women should be compensated for their work.
You said “who could afford that?” My reaction is: we pay for armed guards for our political leaders without questioning the expense. And Mike, you and I know that there is unnecessary spending in place at every school now. Surely we can find room in the budget for a security guard at each school.
In Lewistown, for instance, we have a policeman at the high school, but none at the elementary and junior high schools. On my trips to the schools I see about 12 to 15 kids per classroom. We have principals, aides, secretaries, title 1 teachers, music/art/library/PE teachers, nurses/psychologists/counselors, food handlers. There are many, many more employees per student than were in place when you and I were getting a good education in Montana. I submit that somewhere in our labor pool we could afford a few people who are there to save lives. Aside from that, there are always spending priorities. Maybe one fewer cruiser bus here and there? Maybe we don’t need to send all of our third and fourth graders off to ski at Showdown three instructional days a year? A little less emphasis on sports and sports travel? Maybe replace some expensive texts with cost-effective electronic material? There are many unnecessary (even inappropriate) expenses in our school districts, but heck, even if security is an added cost, I’m okay with that.
Better yet, let’s reward those teachers who are able and willing to carry and protect.
Thanks for your interest and comments. It is good teachers like you that give me hope and confidence in our education system.