Kids can’t go to school in jail

Kids can’t go to school in jail

Visitor registration, photo, issued I.D., escort, locked doors immediately after school is dismissed. After-school activities where children have to leave the school, then go around the school to the room where the activity is being held and knock on a window until someone in that room leaves the room to go to an entrance door. This is safe?

Any person intent on damage to property or life isn’t going to register, have a photo, or be escorted. They are going to enter however they can, be it through a door or breaking glass.

Who becomes the victim? What about the after-school emergency? Or any emergency in the neighborhood where children are told to go to a safe haven? The doors are locked for them as well. What if the child attending activities falls or has other problems and can’t reach an adult? What if it’s getting dark or there are snowbanks?

What does this tell our children? They now go to school in a jail? To be in fear of everything around them? Who are the victims now? Responsible administrators will use reasonable measures, not this. Love the children, let them know they are precious, encourage them in their gifts. Yes, keep them safe, but do it with intelligence.

We can’t protect everyone from everything. Buses are hit by trains, tornadoes rip our towns, hurricanes destroy and kill. Life is precious but it’s also fragile. Hug your kids, tell them you love them, and then let them grow, not in fear, but encouragement and understanding.

Carol Findling

Carol Stream