A Moment of Hesitation

Like many parents across America, as I was making my first cup of coffee, I had a moment of hesitation and a question running through my mind. Should I send the kids to school today? As I took my first few sips, the answer was clear. Yes, of course I should send the kids to school today. It's a regularly scheduled school day. If they didn't go today, when would they go back?

Consider this a gentle reminder that normalcy is what is called for here. We should not live our lives based on fear, and if we choose to, we must not share that particular trait with our children. They will learn, one day, if they follow in our footsteps and become parents the courage it takes to simply trust God and others enough to let your child out of your sight for hours every day. It's part of the process.

Like many other communities across America, our local districts are stationing deputies at schools. I imagine that the purpose is twofold: to deter copycats and to reassure parents. At first, I was reassured, and then I started thinking. It raised another question for me. What happens when the deputies leave? Are they going to reinstate school resource officer programs which have been drastically reduced in this current economic climate? If they don't reinstate the programs, then what messages are we sending to our children? You are safe until everyone forgets, just enough, how horrified and sickened we were on Friday and normal routines set in. You don't forget (how could anyone forget?) but the crisis passes, once more.

Let me stand on my soapbox for a moment. We have a problem in America. This problem is separate from and beyond any discussion on the 2nd Amendment and gun control. I have not yet come to peace within my thoughts or feelings on that particular issue.

The problem is not school safety. Our schools are, despite current events, safe places to be. Since Columbine, there have been plans in place, regular drills, and open discussion on how to address unsafe situations. Beyond that, a super majority of teachers are heroic and will protect their students to the best of their ability. The true problem is lying just beneath the surface of our daily lives.

We have a mental health crisis in America that needs to be addressed. Until it is, until proper care can be received, without stigma, regardless of health insurance status, we have a problem. Until we as a nation stop looking for someone, something to blame and start trying to prevent problems by proactively addressing mental health issues on a national scale, we have a problem. Until we, as a nation, decide that it is worth the money it takes to treat of mental health issues instead of reacting to the results, we will be in crisis.

I will probably hesitate again, when the time comes in just a little while to put one on a bus to middle school and drive the other to elementary school. I will probably embarrass both of them with an extra long goodbye and maybe a kiss on the head. I will probably say an extra prayer or two. What I won't do is panic. I will trust their teachers, their school staff and administration to do what they do everyday and keep their campuses safe. And when I come home, before I do anything else, I'm going to write an email to my elected officials and ask them to address the mental health crisis.