As if our area children aren’t already traumatized every time they hear a tornado siren or are hurried into a storm shelter, soon, if not already, they will learn what to do should a shooting occur at their school.
Emergency responders have been meeting with school administrators across the area. Meetings are being held at universities, colleges, high schools and elementary schools to discuss a response should a shooting happen. On Thursday, Carthage administrators were meeting for the grim discussion.
The safety meetings there have been held periodically since the Dec. 14 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead in Newtown, Conn. The Carthage Police Department has conducted training, including “active shooter drills” inside Carthage schools.
And the same thing is — or should be — happening at your child’s school.
We applaud local police and school officials, particularly teachers, for realizing that it has become just as necessary to have a “shooter” drill as it is to have a tornado drill or a fire drill.
Until America addresses core problems associated with mental illness and our pervading culture of violence, fear is going to be a core subject within the walls of our schools.
It saddens us that teachers can no longer fully concentrate on teaching our children the basics of math, science and reading. They have become the keepers of our children in so many ways. And they receive the blame for the failings of our society.
Yet, what else would we have them do?
Our children are our most precious belongings. They are our future.
We must be able to teach them and keep them safe at the same time.
We support the local efforts that are under way to do just that.
Opinion
Related Photos
Discussion
Our View: Ugly signs of times
- Opinion
-
-
Our View: Safer schools
Being able to see for ourselves what would have happened to our children had they been standing in the main hall of their schools during the May 22, 2011, tornado had a profound effect on our understanding of safe schools.
-
Marilyn Beasley, guest columnist: Claiming responsibility for abuse of power
Over the past few months we’ve witnessed the abuse of power by President Barack Obama and his administration.
-
Our View: ‘Why?’ has no answer
Just hours before, there was breakfast and laughter. There were pictures on the walls and memories in every room.
-
Our View: Absent from House
We can’t figure out why two Missouri legislators think they should be elected to the U.S. House when it appears they can’t seem to show up to take care of business in the Missouri House.
-
Your View: Terrorism is terrorism
In the May 13 issue of The Joplin Globe there was an Associated Press article concerning the New Orleans shooting.
-
Your View: Terrible injustice
I see this Jasper County nuisance law as a terrible injustice on the rights of the residents of Jasper County.
-
Your View: Should we be outraged?
Were there effusive apologies following the lockdown of Boston as most of the continent indulged vicariously in the ongoing manhunt?
-
Phill Brooks, columnist: Missouri Senate did what Founding Fathers had in mind
George Washington once described the Senate as being like a saucer in which you pour coffee or tea.
-
Other Views: Conflicts in SEC
Money talks. In the continuing dispute over the all-too-cozy relationship between the people who create and sell financial products and the people who rate their risk, the money says: Shut up and let us do what we want.
-
Our View: Fixing failure
Some 1,200 injured workers will finally get the payments they are owed. In its final week in session, Missouri’s General Assembly, through bipartisan efforts, passed a solution to address the insolvency of the state’s Second Injury Fund.
- More Opinion Headlines
-
Johnson: Don't Blame Islam or UK Policy
Raw: 80-Year-Old Climbs Mount Everest
Wash. State Man Arrested Following Ricin Scare
Chain-Reaction School Bus Crash Injures About 50
Raw: Scuffles in London After Hacking Death
Texas Students Coach Teachers on Fitness
New Forecasting Tool Eyed for Hurricane Season
Meet MJ, the Bike Riding Tabby Cat
Britain Attack Believed Linked to Radical Islam
Raw: Kevin Durant Tours Moore After $1M Pledge
Man Shot While Questioned in Boston Probe
Weiner Launches Bid to Become NYC Mayor
Okla. Teens Get Video of Deadly Tornado Overhead
School Storm Protection Spotty in Tornado Zones
9-year-old Tornado Victim Loved Family, Singing
Moore Native Toby Keith Tours Tornado Damage
Oklahoma Survivors, Heroes Survey Damage
Raw: Aftermath of Deadly Attack in London
Paperless Scanner, Vision of the Future
