words are no longer a metaphorical shield
over the last month or so there has been a string of shooting incidences in schools scattered throughout the mid-west - colorado, wisconsin, missouri and pennsylvania
the pennsylvania shooting attracted a lot of press attention as it happened in an amish school - a milk truck driver walked into the one room school building and took ten girls hostage, sending out the 15 boys and staff - he told his wife that he was taking revenge for something that had happened twenty years before when he had sexually molested two younger members of his family - he then killed five of the girls and wounded the other five before shooting and killing himself - later the amish community said that they had forgiven the gunman and that the death of the girls had been god's will - the school house was quickly razed to the ground and the school relocated
while skimming through articles which followed in the wake of this spate of shootings, i found this report which to myself, a teacher from the uk, seemed in turns bizarre, surreal, worrying and depressing - i was reminded of an old smith and jones sketch set in a secondary school staffroom at the start of the school day which played out like the opening scene of an episode of hill street blues, with the head teacher as the sergeant briefing his group of hardened, streetwise and fully armed teachers on the possible dangers awaiting them outside in those mean corridors - the following article made me wonder how many years into the future it would be over here before bullet proof jackets were a mandatory part of school uniforms and teacher training courses included new modules run by state police departments on how to deal with hostage situations and handle a variety of firearms....
OKLAHOMA CITY — A candidate for state superintendent of schools said Thursday he wants thick used textbooks placed under every student's desk so they can use them for self-defense during school shootings.
"People might think it's kind of weird, crazy," said Republican Bill Crozier of Union City, a teacher and former Air Force security officer. "It is a practical thing; it's something you can do. It might be a way to deflect those bullets until police go there."
Crozier and a group of aides produced a 10-minute video Tuesday in which they shoot math, language and telephone books with a variety of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9mm pistol. The rifle bullet penetrated two books, including a calculus textbook, but the pistol bullet was stopped by a single book.
Crozier said the demonstration shows that a student could effectively use a textbook as protection in a school shooting.
the pennsylvania shooting attracted a lot of press attention as it happened in an amish school - a milk truck driver walked into the one room school building and took ten girls hostage, sending out the 15 boys and staff - he told his wife that he was taking revenge for something that had happened twenty years before when he had sexually molested two younger members of his family - he then killed five of the girls and wounded the other five before shooting and killing himself - later the amish community said that they had forgiven the gunman and that the death of the girls had been god's will - the school house was quickly razed to the ground and the school relocated
while skimming through articles which followed in the wake of this spate of shootings, i found this report which to myself, a teacher from the uk, seemed in turns bizarre, surreal, worrying and depressing - i was reminded of an old smith and jones sketch set in a secondary school staffroom at the start of the school day which played out like the opening scene of an episode of hill street blues, with the head teacher as the sergeant briefing his group of hardened, streetwise and fully armed teachers on the possible dangers awaiting them outside in those mean corridors - the following article made me wonder how many years into the future it would be over here before bullet proof jackets were a mandatory part of school uniforms and teacher training courses included new modules run by state police departments on how to deal with hostage situations and handle a variety of firearms....
OKLAHOMA CITY — A candidate for state superintendent of schools said Thursday he wants thick used textbooks placed under every student's desk so they can use them for self-defense during school shootings.
"People might think it's kind of weird, crazy," said Republican Bill Crozier of Union City, a teacher and former Air Force security officer. "It is a practical thing; it's something you can do. It might be a way to deflect those bullets until police go there."
Crozier and a group of aides produced a 10-minute video Tuesday in which they shoot math, language and telephone books with a variety of weapons, including an AK-47 assault rifle and a 9mm pistol. The rifle bullet penetrated two books, including a calculus textbook, but the pistol bullet was stopped by a single book.
Crozier said the demonstration shows that a student could effectively use a textbook as protection in a school shooting.
posted by Tallulah Showerhead at 12:03 PM
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