The latest news is that the gunman was sexually assaulting the hostages.

We've heard a lot of talk about how the schools are safer now that we've learned lessons from Columbine and other school shootings. But, school violence statistics aren't any lower than they were before, and apparently the new guidelines are not consistently enforced.

This man, a homeless person living in his car, not a known parent or affiliate of the school, walked right in and was not stopped or questioned by anyone. He didn't have to show ID or sign in, which is pretty standard practice in most schools post-Columbine. Furthermore, he himself was the first person to report the hostage situation, was the school still unaware at this point that this was happening in one of their classrooms? Then, according to a student's report all of the kids were routed inside the school, yes, INSIDE, you know, where the gunman was stating he had a bomb, to wait for 30 minutes before evacuation.

I understand that there is no way to keep a person out of a building if he has enough weaponry, planning and desire to cause damage to the people within. My concern is that it's apparently still awfully easy to attack students in our schools, regardless of what we want to believe about the safety of our children.

Labels: crime, school