I’m surprised at the level of honesty school officials are using towards parents regarding the fallout of the Pine Middle School shooting…
Washoe County school officials told hundreds of anxious Pine Middle School parents Wednesday they didn’t know how to prevent shooting incidents such as the one that wounded two eighth-graders the previous morning.
“We cannot guarantee we can make this school 100 percent safe, just as you cannot guarantee your child’s safety when he or she gets in a car,” Superintendant Paul Dugan told more than 500 students, parents and teachers. “Metal detectors are not a guarantee for safety.”
He’s right. Red Lake High School had metal detectors, and that didn’t stop Jeff Weise. I would also say that liability lies more with the parents than it would with the schools. Most school shooting plots are planned in the home rather than at school. So, in this case, whoever owned the gun that James Newman used should have been responsible for keeping the gun secure and keeping it out of the hands of a 14-year-old.
Also, according to the article, Newman had been planning this for a while…
“You can see he had been thinking about this and considering it,” Lt. Ron Donnelly said after detectives interviewed the suspect, found drawings and writings in his locker and talked with his family and friends.
“Students who heard him talk about bringing the gun to school thought it was just talk,” Rusk said. “Now they feel very guilty and wonder what they should have done. They felt (his comments) were just middle school bravado and that he wasn’t serious.”
When will kids learn that when someone talks about bringing a gun to school that it might not be a joke? Luckily, no one was killed this time.
