Let Sandy Hook Families Rest

I was recently disturbed the other morning about the announcement that the Sandy Hook 911 tapes would be released. This comes near the one year anniversary of that horrific event. I asked myself, what is the purpose of releasing those tapes. Media outlets were hot after them and for what, another disturbing news story?  I think if a mass shooting happened at the Associated Press office building they would be fighting g to protect those tapes from release. Why, because if you have been through such a tragic event then you know and understand the horror that those children went through that day. I myself have never been in a school shooting, but I have been close enough to understand that horror. 

Shortly after the Sandy Hook shooting our school district and police department felt it was necessary to help teachers understand the experience of shots being fired in our school buildings. Police officers walked through our buildings as an active shooter might do firing off blanks indiscriminately. I did my administrative duty and positioned the officers as I thought they should go and allowed them to do their business. No sweat right?  It wasn't until I found myself standing at the end of a hallway and the shooter was walking towards me firing his shotgun. The smell was aweful. The ceiling tiles rose and fell with each shot sending dust onto the floor. My school, and if you're a teacher you know it is your second home, was no longer my school. I couldn't help but feel like one of those kids, Horrified and alone even though many were standing right next to me. My halls were not my halls anymore. The school building innocence had left and I felt helpless. I never felt that this would be part of my career endeavors, active shooters and school safety. It's not what I signed up for. I have been asked many times since Sandy Hook if I would carry a side arm if allowed to a I always reply "absolutely not."  That day has made me question my feelings on my profession, fatherhood, and manhood but I will not waiver on my core beliefs. 

My job is to fix kids, not shoot them. The solutions to gun violence in our society are numerous but I still say you can't fix this problem without fixing people. When we fail to address social ills in society, it trickles into our institutions and then problems really take off and become more complex. We can write more laws and let people carry concealed firearms but those are easy fixes. Healing people is hard and takes time but it's the most challenging things are those that are most worth doing. Somebody famous said that but I'm not sure who. We are not fixing the people of Sandy Hook by making them relive that day and if news media outlets feel it is worth the story then we have more problems that just gun violence.  We should be doing everything we can to never allow our children to hurt again. Not just by fire arm, but suicide and abuse too. I cannot express to you how much pain I help kids through each day and it is preventable. If we choose to be proactive and ensure the mental and physical well being of our kids, we won't have to react when it all comes tumbling down.