I’m at work and CNN is showing coverage of another shooting in Colorado. Memories of Columbine come to mind and I think back like it was just yesterday. I continue working. I watch the faces of parents on TV in fear and news casters trying to generate dialogue and everybody attempting to find answers. My coworkers and I have a slight desensitized reaction to all of it as we continue to keep working.

“Just another shooting… they’ll say the kid was insane,” says one coworker. I nod in agreement . We stop for a moment to take notice of how desensitized we’ve become to violence in schools now days. But we live in the city. I graduated high school way before the Columbine shooting and not only did we have metal detectors , and back pack checks at the door but we also had high school security guards. If a student was even “rumored” to having a gun he was quickly apprehended, expelled, and arrested. For me to watch these suburban people shocked (once again) that something like this could happen in their area simply baffles me and I continue to ask the question…

“WHY DON’T THEY HAVE ADEQUATE SECURITY IN THEIR SCHOOLS?”

Honestly, is there some false sense of security that because you’re not living in a large city and your town is primarily if not all Caucasian that it must be “safe”. Violent behavior knows no color. So I just shake my head that once again, a violent shooting has made the news in an white “unexpected” area. Trust me, shootings would (and do) happen in the urban public schools but they are least likely to happen because of the security that has been put in place beforehand. Especially in Texas, people have guns and sometimes kids get access to those guns. You don’t have to be crazy or on medication to be angry and want to shoot someone. As a kid I remember times when I was so angry after getting beat up and if I had access to a gun…. well I might have went back to school and used it (I’m glad I didn’t ); but everyone doesn’t have that little angel on their shoulder telling them “No”. I am simply tired of people being shocked that anybody in their town/school is capable of violence. I’m hoping as 2014 approaches that schools nationwide will prepare and protect students so that they can have a safe learning environment.

for more information on the story go to the following link: http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/13/us/colorado-school-shooting/