School Violence

Earlier today I had to walk through a metal detector to enter the school where I did my student teaching 10 years ago. Fortunately, that wasn't a part of my experience when I worked there. I thought about how commonplace it must be for the kids to go through the daily shuffle of putting their keys and change in a basket, and having the coats and backpacks scanned on a conveyor belt. It's not the type of environment I'd like to have in my school. It's just a daily reminder that we're losing control of the world around us.

And now, a few hours later, I see this article about a suicide at a local suburban high school. It reminded me of the news clips you see of white parents talking about "this never happens here" or worse, "this isn't supposed to happen here" (as if it's supposed to happen anywhere). I'm assuming there weren't any metal detectors at the door.

School violence is an issue that is relevant everywhere, no matter how we try to paint it. It's extremely disconcerting to have to think about whether I'd feel safer for my child to go to a school that had metal detectors, or to how that she'd be in a place where "these things don't happen." The pessimistic part of me tends to believe that that place simply doesn't exist anymore.