One of my favorite quotes is "Be the change you want to see in the world". I love it because those 10 words have so much meaning. If you aren't happy about something, complaining does absolutely no good, you have to step up do something to make a change.
The latest school shooting took place practically in my backyard. Parkland is about 25 minutes north of me and while I do not personally know any of the victims or their families, it hit home. Everyone in my community is jumpy and scared.
There has been a lot of talk of gun reform, and I fully agree something has to change, but that is a lot harder for us to do than other things that also need to change. Why did the Broward County School Board allow an open campus? Schools are supposed to be single point entry. Why didn't anyone notice this "student" wasn't wearing an ID? Anyone can enter any school at any time and if their intent is to kill, they will.
I am very active in my girls' schools. I am Vice President of the PTO at L's elementary school and I am SAF chair for both the elementary and middle schools. SAF is Student Advisory Forum and I go to a meeting once a month to discuss school board policies. I was at a meeting 3 weeks ago where our area's school board member was in attendance. I brought up school security and I said, "Single Point Entry is all well and good, but what good will it do if the deranged person jumps the counter, or shoots the secretaries and waltzes into the school? We need buzzers on the doors and partitions in the lobbies, further securing the school." This school board member shook her head and replied, "There just isn't enough money for that." That's crazy!!! Am I the only one who hears how crazy that is??? Think about it. "There just isn't enough money for that." There isn't enough money to make sure our children are safe?? School is where our kids spend the majority of their time. M-F for 38 weeks of the year (this number doesn't include winter or spring breaks) for 6 hours a day we send our children to school. We expect they will be safe and I'm told there's no money to make sure the schools are secure? There was money to make sure the School Board building is secure, does that mean the School Board members think they need more protection than our children?
I am not the kind of person to just sit back and complain. I want to be the change and it kills me that in this instance I cannot. You see, we are moving over the Summer and I will no longer be in this school district. If I was, I would be running for a seat on the School Board because "there just isn't enough money for that" isn't a good enough answer for me. I am infuriated this is the attitude our School Board members have and I'm infuriated that it seems to be an OK answer for other people.
Everyone on Social Media is talking about gun control, but that's not going to fix this issue. Someone who wants to kill will find a way to do it so if guns are more regulated they'll make a homemade bomb, or bring in knives. What will people be saying then, since gun control was fixed? The issue isn't that this guy was able to legally buy a gun (though I find it absolutely ludicrous that he's able to buy a gun, but he's not old enough to drink or rent a car. . . where is the sense there?), the issue is that our School Board failed these kids. They failed these families. They failed us. There is money to fight the House Bill that wants to turn failing public schools into charter schools, but there isn't money to make sure our children walk into school and will be safe there all day. There is money to train teachers how to teach our children to pass the Standardized Assessment tests, and there is money to have people write the useless tests, but there is no money to ensure me a deranged person won't enter my child's school and set a fire, shoot a gun or set off a pressure cooker bomb. Is that supposed to make me sleep better at night, that at least my kid will pass this test? What good will it do when they are hiding under a desk fearing for their life?
I shouldn't have to remind my daughters that if their school goes on lockdown, they are to grab their phones, turn them on and silence them and text me. I shouldn't have to try to find the words to assure my 8 year old that this is something that doesn't happen every day and going to school is still safe. How can I look her in the eye and tell her that when I know her safety means nothing to our School Board?
I am livid. I am infuriated. I am pissed and you should be too. I can't be the change right now but I will find a way and I encourage you if you are able, be the change in your community. Do not let this happen again. Go to school board meetings and ask the questions and when you are told, "There just isn't money for that" ask why not and don't take that bullshit answer lying down.
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