Thinking about the Gilroy High lockdown last week, I can
identify with the fear that must have flashed through GHS teacher
Diana Burkholder’s mind that for whatever reason or no reason at
all, she had made the ‘hit-list’ of somebody who threatened to take
her life.
Thinking about the Gilroy High lockdown last week, I can identify with the fear that must have flashed through GHS teacher Diana Burkholder’s mind that for whatever reason or no reason at all, she had made the ‘hit-list’ of somebody who threatened to take her life.
I still remember as a 16-year-old teenager, after having a run-in with a drunken man who lived in our apartment complex, his return in the early morning hours, and with shotgun in hand, firing through my parents’ bedroom window, thinking it was my bedroom. Talk about your mouth going dry and your heart pounding.
I remember tumbling out of bed, crawling on my belly to the phone in our kitchen, and in the dark trying to dial the old seven-digit phone number of the police department. And then, while waiting so long for the police to arrive, wondering if the shooter was moving to another window and going to shoot at me again. It’s something you don’t forget.
Needless to say, it’s very disturbing for any law-abiding citizen to think that a Columbine-type massacre could have taken place within the last few weeks both in Morgan Hill and in Gilroy. Had either of these situations escalated with shots actually being fired, it could have resulted in the deaths of innocent victims, or perpetrators, or both.
While incidents like Columbine might seem that they only happen in a world far away from our local communities, we saw that it actually could happen here. That’s what’s really scary. But fortunately, it’s situations like this that test and prove the value of our local police agencies. Both agencies handled these incidents as first-class professional police organizations. We should be very appreciative to all those officers, who without hesitation, if necessary, would have put their lives on the line to protect the lives of others.
The Dispatch’s editorial dated May 17 was on target when it said about this latest shooting threat “There’s not a shred of humor in it.” Too often the adult attitude in these cases that turn out to be false alarms, is hey, it’s just a bunch of silly kids that were bored, with too much time on their hands, who got carried away. To that I say, “hogwash.” The editorial asked “And now we are left with difficult questions to resolve, questions that have little to do with education.” Well, I’m going step out on the plank and answer those three questions the editorial proposed.
Question one was: “Should the seemingly mindless 17-year-olds be tried as adults?” My answer: yes. Enough of treating this kind of behavior with a “hand-slap” of justice because it was done by “kids.” The message needs to get across to these “kids” is that you don’t ever think of doing this kind of prank, because there will be appropriate punishment. Repeat, appropriate.
By the way, maybe all high schools should be teaching a course on the necessity of obeying the laws of our society, and what happens if you don’t obey. Whoops, that might involve some degree of teaching morality like right vs. wrong, and we don’t want to be so absolute in public education and scare teenagers, do we?
Question two asked: “Should the parents pay full restitution for the emergency response, regardless of ability to pay?” My answer: yes. Let’s put the financial burden where it belongs. If you’re a parent, then you had better understand that you are liable for the financial damages and expenses that your kid incurred when breaking the law.
No more excuses like “I was too busy” or “I couldn’t control Willie” or anything else. The burden of controlling child behavior needs to be on the parent and not on the school system or teachers. The buck stops with the parents/guardians, not with “society.”
Question three asked: “Should the students be named publicly and subjected to the shame that comes with such irresponsible action?” My answer: no. If public naming means publication in the newspaper, I say forget it. Names will become known in school anyway, and with it will come whatever level of “shame” that still exists in teenage culture today. But in a society that has basically tossed out most if not all moral values, I seriously doubt if shame has any public stigma attached to it anymore.
Let’s only hope that neither one of these kinds of incidents will ever happen again here in South Valley.
