Shooting with the Mann: A Simple Solution to Stopping Attacks at Schools
Richard Mann 03.13.18
There’s a meme floating around social media that says something like, “If you have a hard job, give it to a lazy man; he’ll figure out the easy way to do it.” Some attribute these words to Bill Gates, but I don’t really care who said them. Regardless of who the genius was, it essentially means there’s generally a simple solution to even very complex problems — even those as complex as attacks occurring at public schools.
Elected officials and political practitioners are quick to offer new laws intended to stop these abhorrent acts. Understandably, the making of law is the only tool they have, but criminals and the mentally unstable do not conform to the law.
The reality is, it’s easy to stop murder and mayhem in our schools; you — we — the school system — must simply expect it. It must be expected every hour, of every day. (Let that idea sink in for a few seconds . . . )
By expecting bad things, you prepare for them and ultimately prevent them.
To use a somewhat tactardish term, our schools are soft targets. That means they’re relatively unprotected and vulnerable. I have a child in high school, one in middle school, and another in elementary school, all in the same county. None of these schools are “expecting” someone to show up, intent on injuring or killing students or teachers.
Laws won’t stop attacks on our school children and those who educate them. The actor — bad guy — and their desire for bedlam is the problem. You cannot legislate evil away, but you can expect it and prepare for it’s arrival. When school administrators wake up every morning, expecting an attack on a school in their district, they will have taken the first step in preventing it from happening.
School tomorrow — teach kids, mentor young adults, give them a healthy lunch, prepare them for the future — ensure their future, by expecting a heinous fiend will show up and try to take it away from them.
Look at it another way: If vampires were real and running rampant, our schools would have garlic cloves hanging at every entry, crucifixes would be on every classroom door, and freshly sharpened stakes would be at the ready.
Sometimes the answer is just that simple.
