Mass Killings in America

There have been many mass killings in the USA. It might seem that for some reason that some young kids are so influenced by one another that each is trying to top one another in who can create the greatest sensation.  Not long ago in Colorado a young man killed moviegoers at a premiere showing of a Batman movie.  The most notorious mass murder in the USA still remains that of Charles Manson and his band of followers who broke into a celebrity home and killed Sharon Tate while in a state of pregnancy.  It would appear that the most recent shooting in Connecticut is especially heinous since it cost the lives of so many young innocent children and their school teachers.  Sadly, this act followed a shopping center killing of two innocent adults by another who when confronted took his own life.  The shooter in Connecticut took his own life too when he heard the police enter the building.

My own reaction is that thank Heaven when I was teaching I did not ever have a student or former student who was so disgruntled that he would bring a gun to the school to use against his classmates or teachers.

I have heard of kids putting drugs into their teacher's coffee though, and that is also as harmful as a gunshot at times. It can produce results that are equally harmful.

That is the perils of being a classroom teacher.  But this particular episode is an irony to me personally.  The reason is that years ago I took a correspondence course through the Institute of Children's Literature which is situated in Connecticut.  One of my first thoughts was how ironic!  That this should happen to a group of students in that state.  What a story for a children's author.

My first story that I tried to market was about fire prevention. I had read an article that told how to survive a hotel fire!  Ironically, I tried to sell it to Cricket, which is based in Illinois.  After it was rejected and returned to me for a variety of reasons, the MGM hotel in Las Vegas caught fire.  I have never forgotten how important it is to know how to save a life.

So all I can imagine now is the advice that teachers and principals must consider on how to survive in case a madman rushes into your classroom.  One cannot help but wonder at what he said when  he walked into the classroom.  What did the children do?  What did the teacher do?  We know some of the stories about those who did survive but we cannot imagine what actually took place when he first entered and began shooting...Who can expect a child to recall those terrible moments? I hope that some great counseling lies ahead for everyone in Newtown, CT.