School's Out
This morning I find myself slightly overwhelmed with reminders that the world can be a frightening place.
In the middle of the night, one of my daughters received a text message on her cell phone. It said that other kids were talking about the threat of a school shooting that was to happen today, the anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks, at the high school. Someone had found a note or something and supposedly turned it into the school.
This morning I woke up early and started calling the school. The line was busy and I had to try a few times before I got through. When someone finally answered, I expressed my concern over this text message my daughter received and asked if the school was aware of any such threat.
I expected to hear “no”, but the answer I received was quite the opposite. I was told a note was indeed found clearly stating a school shooting threat in the name of September 11th and that they had turned the note over to the police. They said they had no idea who wrote the threatening note, but the police are indeed aware of it.
I said “Before I send my kids into that school today, can I ask what the plan is?.. Are kids going to be searched?... Extra security?... Police in the school?...
She said she knew there was a plan, but she didn’t know what it was and then told me that they are encouraging everyone to attend school and that it’s not good to live in fear of these terrorist kinds of threats.
I would generally agree with that, except she just told me that this note clearly expressed plans for a school shooting. Last I heard, we weren’t supposed to ignore things like that.
The fact that she couldn’t even tell me what the plan was didn’t comfort me at all and I decided that school’s out for today. Maybe I'm overreacting. I've been known to do that on occasion.
On a positive note, I found a site called mygooddeed.org dedicated to making 9/11 a national day of service. Millions of people are making donations or giving ideas as to what good deeds they are going to do today. I personally have made an appointment for a blood donation, but I do that all the time anyway. I’m going through some of the other great posts on the site and see what other positive ideas I can try!
13 comments:
Yeah, I'm pretty sure I would have kept them home from school too. Even if you are over-reacting, the worse that'll happen is they'll miss a day of school that I think should be a national holiday anyway. The alternative is too scary to even think about.
Wow. It's kinda scary that a person who is supposed to be a reliable contact for you has no idea what the school is going to do for this. I would've done the same thing with no explanation
I would have wanted to know the plan before I'd let mine go...
my oldest lives in San Francisco...and I was visiting last weekend...and asked them where they were going to be today. (they both work out of several different offices)
When they asked why...I said I just want to know where everyone is...just in case.
This morning she called and said I got her concerned enough she didn't take the subway to work...and I owed her the $15 for the cab ride.....laughing....
schools have become so darned governmental, which means they frig things up.
karina: thats what i figured. It's a day of school. In the grand scheme of things, not that big of a deal.
pamela: I thought the same thing. Obviously they had a gazillion people calling. I wonder why they didn't at least give the receptionist something to read to us..
katherine: LOL...that's what moms do best, right? My mom actually called all of us this morning asking the same thing! No matter how old they get, they will always be your babies :)
sparky: yeah, I just don't trust them to properly handle some situations. Not worth the risk in going in my opinion.
I don't think you were over reacting at all. You can never be too safe w/ matters like this.
Overreacting or not, I would have made the same decision so it must have been the right one.
I hope everything turned out okay. That's really scary. Violence in schools is all too real and terrifying!
Good for you! I would have done the same thing.
What a frightening experience, Jessica. Good for you for keeping the kids home. I want to check out that site. I've found another one that intrigues me. I was going to do a 9/11 post about ways to do good, but was afraid I'd further a reputation as a charity blogger (lol). I'm looking for a Dear Abby letter from you (or Paris or Bon Jovi...)
how scary! glad everything turned out ok!
I would have kept them home, too. Sure, you don't want to live in fear. Sure, you shouldn't let terrorists "win." But these are our children, and we will protect them, period.
My younger daughter's high school had similar things several times a year. Someone would write a threat for a certain day real big on a bathroom wall and on that day there would be cops all over school. Nothing ever happened but it probably cost a bunch to have cops hanging around all day.
You can't help but worry about it though.
that is scary and I agree... things like that shouldn't be ignored just to say you don't want to live in fear.
If someone said a car wasn't in the best shape and was going to crash... I wouldn't ride in the car either. I wouldn't just ride in it because I was showing fear who's boss... that is just silly.
Hope all was ok though!
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