I put the following in an email to my sister, then she decided to put part of it on Facebook, which is fine - but as I said to her, actually, this probably should be in a blog post - as I haven't written in several weeks. By the way, my brother is nagging me gently to write, and I appreciate that. I wish I were more diligent. Anyhow, the entirety of the post I wanted to share, edited and including the comments that have already been shared on Facebook are as follows:
I'm somewhat emotional due to the horrific news from
CT, and, that although i didn't know her, a fellow school psychologist died -
but the children...the evil is too unspeakable. I've had a FB friend post that he never thought he
would be scared to send his daughter to school, and I wanted to reply something like this: If
something happens at your daughter's school, people like me will not hesitate to
lay our lives down for your child, and all the children we serve. I would so do that. It is something that is engrained in us as
educators, not taught formally, but in the everyday business of knowing we are
responsible for the safety of 48,000 children in this district every day that we come to work. We do the
very best we can to protect, anticipate, be on alert, question, and watch. The last time one of my schools was in lockdown status was because someone in the neighborhood
called 911 to say they saw a person with a gun walking down the street. All of the
classrooms were locked, outside doors were locked, and - who patrolled the halls
with walkies, looking out doors and windows, checking closets and bathrooms for
the next 30 minutes until all clear? Me and 4 other people. I do not
take my responsibilities lightly.
Many people on FB are posting that God
has been "kicked out" from public schools. They are clueless. God
lives everyday in public schools, through the lives of those who are called by
Him to serve. God is present anywhere His people are, and I know some
awesome dedicated servants of Christ who tirelessly and fearlessly serve our
students. I know many teachers who spend their own money, who give their
own time, who comfort, encourage, console, discipline, teach societal rules, and
who pray for their students every day. It offends me when people post that
God is not in public schools. As Francis Schaeffer titled a book, "God Is There,
and He Is Not Silent!"
