Considering Recent Events: Chardon, Ohio

My heart goes out to the children, friends, parents, teachers and community of Chardon. These kind of tragedies are at times overwhelming and unthinkable, especially when these kind of things occur right in your home state. When Columbine occurred there were other school shootings and we all just sort of looked at it like a random act of violence. However, Columbine was an event that changed everything in the US school system. Columbine really took the innocents of school away from a generation and set the tone for the future.

Like generations before them, my generation remembers Columbine, you remember how old you were, what you were doing when it happened and the worry, "What if something like that happened here." For kids in my home town, we could really relate to Columbine. It is a middle class to upper middle class community. The High School I went to was completely segregated by social groups and you just went with whatever group you had been accepted too, I was fortunate enough to be apart of a group that didn't really get picked on very much; but I've seen the kind of torment kids can put upon each other and your mind does not have to stretch to see the cause and affect.

When I was a Junior in college the Virginia Tech Massacre occurred. We had all thought this was something we did not have to worry about any more, we thought college was safe from these types of tragedies. As the weeks passed following VT, security at my university and others tightened. The presence of officers made you feel safer, but it also reminded you of what could happen and for a few weeks every time a door would slam or someone would drop something loud in the hallway we would all jump.

Like anything horrible in life there are lessons to be learned. Chardon is a great example of that. From the events of Columbine, Ohio High Schools have really embraced a resolution to be prepared. We practice "Lockdown" just like fire or tornado drills.



We tell our students what to do and we hope they remember. Chardon High School should be commended for its quick response to protect the school and the dedication of its teachers to protect their children.

We have seen it time and time again in these School Shootings, the bravery and heroic acts of teachers stepping forward and protecting their students. Teachers barricading doors to keep the shooter out with nothing more than their body, teachers going in to help the wounded, teachers throwing themselves in front of the student to shield them from harm. What would we do without our teachers? Where would our children be without these wonderful heroes?