It seems reasonable to say that every American and most of the world has heard of the carnage of Sandy Hook. No one who has knowledge of this unfathomable event can go unchanged. Everyone can relate to it at some level. We cannot imagine how those parents will continue to live out their lives after this horror has been inflicted upon them.
Some changes will come about as our conscience demands it. To live in a free society we must come to terms with more controls to protect the general public. Those who never do harm to others will have to accept new measures to assure that those who would do harm are hindered in their efforts.
Looking back to the years when I was in the classroom with six year children to guide, educate and supervise to keep safe, I remember the tactics used in our schools then. Back in the 1950's no thought was given to major disruptions. Our concerns centered on snow and icy roads, playground safety, transportation to and from schools, weather and supervising the washing of hands before eating.
In my first classroom we had no running water. I was adamant about the children washing their hands before eating. Most of the children brought their lunches in brown paper bags or they walked home for lunch. Some of their homes were in sight of the school, which was on a mountain top. Each day we had a ritual. I had brought a round metal pan to school and a large pitcher. I stood beside the pan and poured water over the little hands after they had soaped with a bar of ivory soap. In a modern version of this procedure, I stood outside the bathroom and if I suspected little hands had not been washed I asked that they be lifted so I could smell for soap. Sometimes a little boy who was suspect at the time would just turn and go back into the bathroom not waiting for me to check his hands. He knew the procedure and what he had to do.
When I was in a school with an intercom system we would receive a coded message from the office if there was a need for it. Our school was near a prison so we would occasionally have a prisoner on the loose. If we were outdoors someone would come out to tell us to come in. The most we had to fear was an irate parent who would storm in the building and head straight for the room of the intended target. This coded message was for every teacher to step out into the hallway and just stand by his/her door. This was a silent message that witnesses were all around and although I never saw an incident to prove the effectiveness of the method, it was said to work very well.
Later on, a sign was placed near the entrance stating that visitors must sign in at the school office. I think much more stringent measures are already at play in our schools. Since I last had a classroom in 1991, our world has become much smaller with instant viewing of events around the globe. We are much more informed and vigilant and less safe than we were thirty years ago.
During World War II, President Delano Roosevelt said that "All we have to fear is fear itself". I am not so sure that will hold true for 2012. It is all too real that there is much to fear today. There are some real measures that we can take to reduce the possibility of danger, but in reality, we cannot be sure that we will be safe. To over react to try to defend ourselves can have ugly consequences. Unfortunately we have seen the consequences of this over reaction played out in this latest unspeakable tragedy. No one wants to put it into words, but it is a true.
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