Dear Mayor Shevelew:
You ended your letter published Dec. 26, to our township with the question: would the Connecticut tragedy have happened if the principal and school administrator been trained and armed?
No one knows the answer to that, but you have to wonder if this boy would have found another way to inflict the harm to those he targeted in another way, such as outside in the playground, should he have been denied access to the school.
The most obvious answers to this tragedy is his easy access to rapid fire weapons, the lack of help or acknowledge of his mental state, what was he watching on TV or video games that would even give him the idea to carry out such an unspeakable act.
Should this township have to rely on school staff to carry weapons? No, they should not.
We do have to redesign or rethink entry into the schools using a means of gates or areas of security, before people not on school business, are allowed to enter the actual building.
Police officers who do this for a living never want to draw their weapon, why would I want to give a weapon to someone that even with “training” would most likely hesitate and still not control the situation or make matters worse.
We should be learning more about the problems and mental health issues and how to help children or adults and not let them slip through the cracks. Are our teachers learning what to look for and offer assistance to those kids that are in need of help with family or personal issues? Are school personnel being taught how to help those that are bullied or manage the ones that bully?
Have we stopped teaching our kids to respect their teachers or those that work to help them while in school? Has the media shown that “acting ugly” gets you attention; of course that is a yes.
We all need to show more respect to everyone and it does take a village to raise a child not more weapons.
Sincerely,
Martha Eppinger
