Wake Up Call

We received a concerning wake up call from our superintendent at 5am yesterday morning. At some point the previous evening, one of the students in my building posted a meme on instagram about a school shooting that was to take place on Friday. It was a cartoon picture with a threatening caption. He was taken into custody and then to a juvenile detention facility where he will be charged with inducing panic or something similar. I have limited knowledge of the kid because I only see him for seconds in the lunch line, but I probably wouldn't have thought much more about it if I'd seen the meme myself. I understand all threats real or implied have to be investigated, and I believe our administration did the right thing. I just hate that one moment of stupidity is going to change this child's life for a very, very long time.

The call said they were going to station a sheriff at the school all day. I guessed the media would be there as well. We explained to Danielle that we felt there wasn't any danger, but gave her the option of staying home if she was worried. She chose to go. The absence list was double its usual size yesterday and there were indeed media vans there all day, but Danielle said she never felt unsafe. For the most part, school went on as usual. I was proud of her for choosing to go. First, I'm glad she trusted our assessment. Second, there are so many bad things going on all over the world, in all venues and at all types of events. We can be careful and vigilant, but we just can't protect against everything. We must have faith in God's plan and continue to live our lives according to this plan.  I'm glad Danielle took that leap of faith. (I also hope that this is the biggest leap she'll have to take in quite awhile!)