Denver still on edge from Columbine
Justin Bathon on Monday, May 18, 2009 at 10:49PM Way back when, as a high schooler, I turned down a student that asked me out (yes, I know you are shocked (admittedly I was too - I didn't get a lot of date requests)). In response, she wrote in a notebook something like 200-300 different ways to kill me. It was sort of impressive actually and kind of creative. Some friends of hers made me aware of it and she admitted to writing it and eventually I saw it. But, I never thought her threat was that serious and it was never reported (of course, that was pre-Columbine ... maybe today I would have a different response).
Anyway, it is going to take us a long time to recover from Columbine, as this similar story in Denver shows. People are always on edge to different degrees and I have seen it in Kentucky as well, as Paducah is still on the minds of teachers and administrators. But, eventually, we need to get over it. We can't forget it and need to learn the lessons from it, but we can't be so on edge as to consider every threat legitimate even after it is investigated. It doesn't do a service to our students who, after having their young hearts broken or being embarrassed, come up with inappropriate, but ultimately non-threatening, responses. Our students are not adults and we don't need to be treating them that way. It is good to see this story from Denver ... they are getting over it and it is a good signal to the rest of us that we should be as well.
h/t Scott M.
Reader Comments (1)
I think that schools and their administrators should have at least some degree of vigilence as sometimes just a little bit of initiative could go a longg way in preventing Columbine from happening again. I think that the most important idea to come out of the tragedy is that Administrators and teachers have become more aware of specific signs of student behavior that might mean a kid is troubled or has for lack of a better term "impure" thoughts. I would hope (and I have no specific studies to support this) that all school personal have received at least some additional training as to how to spot specific behavioral signs.
I agree that every threat can't be taken seriously but I think that the main problem is which threats should be taken seriously and which ones should not be taken seriously. It would appear at least from the prospective of the school difficult to differentiate.
I would point out that in my humble opinion a cause of many of these threats is the ignorant "clique" system that exists in many schools. Some kids feel left out and others are ostracized by these cliques. I would think that if school personal could find a way to eliminate the cliques or try to teach students to be inclusive rather than exclusive perhaps tragedies like Columbine can be prevented. Just my two cents.