School safety tops this mom’s list of things to worry about

Published 1:30 am Sunday, October 2, 2016

The day before the Cascade Mall shooting on Sept. 23, there was a bomb threat at my son’s elementary school.

One minute my son and his friends were playing at recess, and the next they were shepherded to the far field while the school was evacuated. The children sat in silence for an hour listening for instructions, while local police went into action.

My sixth-grader said he knew the situation was serious when he saw his favorite recess teacher say in a clear voice “This is not a drill!” and hurry the kids off the blacktop.

Helicopters flew overhead while all the children worried and waited.

I picked him up from school when the crisis was over and found him red in the face and sweaty. “There was a bomb threat!” he yelled as soon as he saw me.

The first thing I did was hug him. The second thing I did was whisper “Shh! Don’t scare the kindergarteners.”

“Why should I be quiet?” he shouted. “There was an actual bomb threat!”

The truth of what he said struck me hard. The kids at school that day were already frightened. They had done their time being quiet. Now they had every right to express their feelings at full volume.

So here I am asking in capital letters: WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Who threatens to bomb an elementary school?

When I was in sixth grade the scariest thing I encountered was an earthquake drill. Now kids learn ALICE: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Escape for when there is an armed intruder in the building.

All of us should be yelling. This is not right! How did we let our country get so messed up that kids need to worry about blowing up at school?

When bad things happen a lot of people, including me, have this instinct to say “That was tragic, but at least it did not happen to my family.” If we don’t compartmentalize, it becomes too unbearable to move on.

But we are all scarred forever. There is no guarantee that our children or grandchildren will be safe at school, or the movie theater, or a party, or the mall, or during a routine traffic stop. Somehow our communities have turned into places where ordinary people see violence as the answer to their problems. Our laws and social services are not strong enough to prevent violent situations from happening again, and again and again.

We are the adults who vote and pay taxes. We are the ones with the power to change our laws for the better. Whispering “Shh! Don’t scare the kids,” does not solve anything. Our children are already scared, and they have every right to yell.

Jennifer Bardsley is an Edmonds mom of two, and author of the book “Genesis Girl.” Find her online on Instagram @the_ya_gal, Twitter @jennbardsley or at teachingmybabytoread.com.