My article has touched many and has been an eye opener as well. I have received many notes from concerned teachers, students and parents. Many of these notes have been posted below for your viewing.
I would like to update
you on my efforts to get involved and make a difference.
After talking with many parents, I quickly realized that we were
not being told information which we viewed as important. We must
be kept abreast of all forms of violence, drugs or gangs in our
schools. We can not afford to be left in the dark! DENIAL is our
worst enemy!
I have been in contact
with my local school and voiced my opinion many times. I have
stressed the need for a school hotline number. This feature would
allow students to call and report suspicious incidents from the
privacy of their own homes.
I have encouraged the schools to read my article and take action.
I have recently been
told that as of Friday April 30, l999 the school has incorporated
a student hotline number.
I have also learned that the County Superintendent for schools
will now openly discuss this situation on a public broadcast.
There should be no Denial when it comes to the safety of our children. Schools and parents must become one and work towards a safe solution. They must act responsibly and not cast blame! Know what to nurture and stop being afraid of what has to be done! You must be the change you wish to see in this world. Without this change, there may be no world!
Family values must be re-examined. We need to stay connected as a community and look out for one another. Make this a community issue that will help reunite families and schools. Don't wait for a crisis to happen and then react, it will be too late!
I have had many requests to have this article reprinted in various forms. I would like to openly state the following: If you are interested in reprinting this article to share with your school, children, groups, newspapers, etc. PLEASE feel free to do so. The more people who are encouraged to respond, the better off our schools will be. Please note that the article is copyright registered and will have to include the author's name.
Please, I encourage
you, ACT NOW! If we wait for next year's school year to begin,
we have already lost the war! Welcome the change, don't be afraid
of change and ACT NOW!!!
*********************************************************
Responses from concerned readers.
Hi, :-)
I read your article in the beanie news galore and wanted to congratulate
you and stepping out to addressing the problems. I may not have
any children-but as a mail carrier I see a lot of children being
alone and running around in the streets. You would be totally
surprise how young the kids are that are by themselves playing
by or in the streets for long periods of time.
Once I saw a girl, must have been no more than three or four years old, just wandering down the street. As I was delivering the street getting close to her, (been keeping an eye on her the whole time) the time elapsed must have been 10 minutes, I did not see one adult or responsible person approaching her or looking for her. When I got to her I asked, "do you know where you live"? She says yes and pointed to the apartments, I told the little girl you better get out of the streets and go on home. Which she promptly did. I thank God that no one did anything to that little girl.
So where or what was the parents doing? If they did not notice her missing for however long- it was just ten minutes when I saw her, have no idea how long it was before that.
What about young children walking to school by themselves on a popular and busy street. My fiancée' and I talked about that-if we have children we would NEVER let them walk to school by themselves no matter how much they may fuss. It can be so easy for a child to just disappear. All it takes is one minute and poof they are gone. I see men driving down the road and see a young (and I mean young) girl walking by herself and they are checking her out like she was a piece of meat. And you know some of the girls are scared by the way they walk. Heads are down, books held closely to their chest with their arms across them. Where are the parents? Can they not find a responsible person to take or bring them home from school?
That is another issue you can talk about-have the parent's form a group of people that can take or pick these kids up. I know times are hard and there is more and more homes that have a two-parent income. But could they not hire a responsible teenager (who would like to make some money) to do this. Does not necessarily mean baby-sitting but just transporting them, making sure they get to school and home o.k.
I just wish you good luck and pray that you will get the parents to respond to you. Most people just not want to get involved or take the time out and put a little effort.
God Bless,
*****************************
I agree with a lot of the points you make in your article. One
point, though, I have to take issue with. That is your suggestion
that all the school doors, except one, be locked after the arrival
of the children for school. Surely, you must realize that in case
of fire, you would be sentencing those children to a horrible
death by smoke inhalation! No fire department in this country
would allow such a lapse in judgement, I hope. Please reconsider
your suggestion to lock the school doors in a futile attempt to
lock out the bad guys!
*** Very good point! I checked with the school system and was
told the locked doors could be pushed open from the inside. Many
schools lock all doors except for the main entry door. The doors
have been designed to protect our children.
*****************************
Hi Ms. Janie,
I just want to say thanks for a wonderful article. It surely gives
one much food for thought.
*****************************
Hi Ms. Janie,
I wanted to take a few moments and let you know that I agree with
almost everything you said in your article about the safety concerns
of our children. I do, however, have a suggestion for your son's
CD purchase problem. If an adult was with him when he purchased
the CD, that adult should have to take responsibility for the
purchase as well as the child. A seven-year-old wouldn't know
that the music was harmful
unless told so by an adult. Seven-year-old children in most parts,
thankfully, are usually naive and trusting.
Since you stated you
weren't with him when he purchased it, I'm sure someone else had
to be. That person should be held responsible too. I suggest having
them pay for half of the CD. Even though the amount is very small
it is a lot of money to a child. We as adults have to take responsibility
for allowing society to become as it has, this might be one way
to teach your child that we are trying to improve.
*****************************
We had the same problem with our son with music, TV programs and
video games that his friends were allowed to have but were considered
off limits in our home. It wasn't easy in the beginning, we were
viewed as "mean" parents that were "picking"
on our son. Now looking back he understands exactly why it was
so important. The children that were given the items we wouldn't
allow are constantly in trouble at school and at home. Our son
is an honor student and more importantly a wonderful person, kind,
caring and thoughtful. Do I think that disallowing those items
in our home when he was younger made a difference--you better
believe it!
*****************************
Maybe we should teach our children to accept other kids for what
they are. Not to make fun of kids who don't fit in. Then these
kids wouldn't feel the need to retaliate against people who have
made fun of them and tortured them for years.Why do we have to
make outcasts of children just because they don't fit in. Kids
should be taught that they should treat others the way they would
like to be treated.
*****************************
Hi, my name is Lacey and I am a Junior in high school. As a student
I wanted to express my views with you on how I see the situation
with Colorado. I do believe that the schools need to buckle down
on school security, but uniforms are a little extreme. Maybe just
have a strict school dress code (i.e., no excessive baggage).
Locking all doors except the main door is a good idea, but at
my school we have to walk from our school building all the way
out to an annexed building about a football field away, outside
in an open area. So to have our doors locked would mean we could
not go from class to class.
I thank you for your
concerns for the students. I wish now that they could have done
something to prevent this. Hopefully after this incident people
and school administration will open their eyes a little more.
*****************************
Hi Janie,
I really liked your article. This shooting is terrible! You made
some really good points. I think our government, laws, ect. are
partly to blame. I just read today that they found a suicide note
of sorts. In it one of them said that it wasn't over yet. I don't
think Nazi /worshiping gangs, Ku-Klux Clans, the Waco, Tx cult'
Devil-worshipping , ect./ anything of this sort, should be allowed.
I feel that criminals have more rights than victims.
I live in a town of 5,400. About a year or so ago, a mother called
either our school or the police. Don't remember which. Anyway,
she thought her son (age 13-14) had brought some kind of explosive
to school. The middle school principal got the kid & things
were searched, ect. The kid had a box of film canisters filled
with gun powder & fastened with a nail !!!!!!! The school
sent out word to parents that there wasn't a bomb & that they
were checking on it. You know what our school's final position
was, " This wasn't a Bomb, it was just a box of film canisters/
filled w' gun powder w' a nail holding the lid shut. " They
were the 35mm film cans.
I would like your permission to put your article " The Shots
Rang Out " in our local newspaper, if they will print it
. Hopefully, it would help wake people up.
Please e-mail me if this would be OK !
*****************************
Ms.Janie
I was delighted when I learned you posted your own site, I often
wondered why you never had one before. I must say, your site is
beautiful and very professional. I will visit often and tell many
retailers about it.
Your latest article on the Colorado incident really hit home!
I am so glad to see you get involved and try to make a difference.
That's the MsJanie I know, not afraid to take on anything.
This tragedy will effect all students and parents must wake up.
Your article was very well written and I agree with everything
you said. I have children of my own and hate the thought of sending
them to school. Your article has encouraged me to get involved
and ask if I can patrol the halls at school and maybe sit in on
lunch time. I have to do something and everyone else should as
well.
Keep up the good work and never stop writing that would be the
next tragedy.
*****************************
Dear Ms. Janie,
I just read the article you wrote regarding the horrible tragedy
in Littleton, CO. I just wanted to write and tell you how much
I appreciated and agreed with what you wrote. If more parents
were as concerned and involved in their children's lives as you
are and my husband and I are, also; then maybe this world wouldn't
be as messed up as it is. Thank you for sharing your important
views with others of us who are also concerned and worried about
our precious children's futures. I do hope
that the meetings you have at your children's school and your
town will be very productive.
Mother of three(only 1 school age at this time)
McKinney, TX
*****************************
Dear Janie,
Thank you for your thoughts and those of your daughter. I also
have a 13 yr. old daughter and a 16 yr. old son. When a ? CD or
other toy has come home and needs to be discussed and then gotten
rid of....I have always told them that I will buy it back from
them. They made the decision to buy it, and did not know or fully
grasp that it was not an appropriate choice. They are not penalized
for my decision to take it away...and they have learned the lesson.
Hopefully, they will think differently next time they spend their
$.
*****************************
Janie: Great, thought-provoking article! Thanks so much for sharing
your thoughts with us. It will make us better parents.
*****************************
msjanie,
Great article. I share your concerns about our children schools.
I am a mother of 4. I have three in middle school and one in high
school. Just this week they have arrested 5 children in our school
district. It is very frightening. I feel very fortunate to have
a very open relationship with my kids. I will be contacting the
school to see if there is anything that I can do to help.
Thanks for the advice.
*****************************
Dear MS Janie,
I just wanted to tell you how inspiring your article is on this
school issue and parenting.
I have made copies to give to my friends that do not have access to a computer, and especially to my daughter that is the mother of 2 boys, one age 14, the other almost 9.
I also have written
my state rep, (I know them personally, and my councilman). Now,
I would like permission to send your article to them to use any
way they see fit, and especially for my councilman to use it for
an article in our "Neighborhood community newspaper",
called "the Herald" serving the Donelson, Hermitage
and Old Hickory communities of Nashville, TN.
*****************************
Well written article.
I will share it with my school guidance counsel and ask for them
to do as you ask. Maybe I will start to feel safe again.
*****************************
This is a masterful article and time parents, whether they are
both outside the homes working or one or both in the homes with
their children, to realize what paths their children can travel.
As a grandmother, being very close to both boys, I am concerned
with all the avenues open in today's times, long before this horrible
Littleton episode.
May I have your permission
to have the reprinting by either editing for brevity, or in whole,
of course, using your name?
*****************************
Thank you for your well-written article. I am a teacher (19 years)
and a mother of a middle-schooler. Like you, my heart breaks every
time I hear or read about school violence. I have taught in one
school where I saw my first UZI and had a drug dealer in my class
with a loaded gun. By the way, I don't teach in the big cities
where one might expect school violence to be more prevalent. I
teach in Georgia - small towns for the most part. I want you to
know that the teachers I work with all agree with your suggestions
- for schools and families. Unfortunately, we teachers do not
have the power to put into effect the necessary stopgap measures
that we wish we had - metal detectors, picture Ids displayed on
every student and adult that belongs in a school building, uniforms
(!!!), and stricter dress codes. We send several students daily
to the office because of their extremely baggy pants ("busting
slack"). After being sent to the office many, many times,
the student MAY be put on Parental Suspension. When the parent
returns with their child, often the parent is angry at us for
not allowing their child to dress the way he/she chooses. Our
administrator has been cursed out by more than one angry parent
over "busting slack." I have also seen fathers of our
students dressed just as inappropriately and some mothers that
should look in the mirror before leaving home (tight, short shorts,
tight tops with or without bras, houseshoes if any at all, hair
in rollers).
*****************************
Like your daughter, I have the same questions. I have some answers,
certainly not all, but cannot get anything done. We teachers will
do anything we have to protect our students, but we feel like
"sitting ducks" often. At any moment, on any day, what
happened in Littleton, Colorado could happen at my school or the
school down the street. I'm frustrated. You are frustrated. I'm
scared. You are scared. Where do we go from here? How do I look
my daughter in the eye and assure her that no one is going to
come in to her classroom and begin shooting or plant bombs all
around our school. I cannot look her
in the eye and do that. Can any of us? I am not a fatalist. My
husband and I have a very strong faith in Jesus and know that
one day we will be in heaven with loved ones who have gone on
before us. We are raising our daughter with this same faith and
pray for her daily. Again, I am not a fatalist, but I am a realist.
I know the Bible talks about how bad things on Earth will become.
However, I do know that if we just sit back and do nothing (or
just hope for the best), then nothing will put an end to all this
violence and we will be sitting in front of the television watching
yet another story about another school, another state, another
son or daughter that has taken the lives of children who have
not lived out their lives. Will we continue to just shake our
heads, shed a few tears and switch from channel to channel for
the latest news story and wonder WHY? THERE MUST BE ANSWERS!!!
I really began this email as just a "thank you" for
your article. Thank you for your article. Thank you for reading
this. I know you share my frustration and fear. Let me know what
answers you come up with. Thank you. mother and teacher
*****************************
People, do as Ms Janie asks, get involved and make our schools
safe! She is a smart woman and I admire and respect her. We can
not allow guns and violence to take over our schools. Teachers
and parents have to work together and become one. We all can make
a difference.
*****************************
Hi Janie,
What you wrote I feel Is 100%. All your issues and ideas are correct
and honestly thought out. I agree with you on all of them. I live
in a very small community that has seen some warning signs that
the media has been talking about in some of the children that
live in my small town. It really makes one sit back and think
about what is going on in our world to make these children behave
in this kind of manner.
I feel with this tragedy in Colorado has opened my eyes to more
options and ideas that I can do as a parent can and for my community
to help out and be even more involved in knowing the kids in our
schools. I sometimes thought about going back to work when my
children got older. I feel now that my place is at home with them
to help them through any tough times through there years. Maybe
I will take a job later in life but I am hoping it will be where
my children are going to school at. I do see some parents leaving
there children alone after school that are way to young for that
kind of responsibility. I see small children walking to and from
school by themselves. I am talking age 4-8. They live several
blocks away. I am so scared for them. I know people think because
they live in a small town where everyone knows you, that nothing
will happen to their children. I feel that children could be violated
anywhere you live. It is such a crazy world we live in, so much
violence and hatred.
I really like your idea about having meetings with the parents
and even going to the school and roaming the halls and bathrooms
to watch for anything out of the ordinary.
I have been watching the TV with all the interviews from Colorado
and it really makes me feel sick to see such a tragedy. My heart
is so heavy and my mind is so full. My prayers go out to all the
families and the whole community.
I Hope I did not bore you with my thoughts. I really enjoy your
website. Keep on writing your articles, they are very informative.
Your home page is beautiful and very pleasant to listen to.
Thanks for the time,
Thanks again and GOD BLESS.
*****************************
This poem was passed on from Joe at Beanie World. One of their viewers read my article linked from the Beanie World site and sent Joe this poem. I found the poem to be very moving and felt it needed to be shared. A special thanks goes out to the author and Joe for passing it on.
Dear Parents, Friends
and Loved Ones,
Of these precious youth you've lost,
I see your broken spirits,
I know the terrible cost.
Although I'm not allowed,
In schools across our land,
They can't keep me from loving kids,
And offering them my hand.
Though evil reigned
at Columbine,
And horror filled the air,
I wanted all of you to know,
I left Heaven and came there.
I summoned Heaven's
Angels,
Long before the call came in,
To share the dreadful warning,
Of what would soon begin.
The angels' wings were
folded,
They knew what was to come,
When I said, "I'll lead this mission."
They followed one by one.
"I will go and
get these babies,
And bring them home with me,
Where they'll live in Heaven's Schoolhouse,
Where it's safe and free."
Yes, I've prepared
a Special Schoolhouse,
It stands out from all the rest,
The Welcome Mat reads, "Columbine,"
It's reserved for Heaven's best.
I was hovering all
around them,
In the Library and the Hall,
When the evil forces entered,
Your children heard me call.
I wrapped my arms around
them,
Pulled them close unto my breast,
"I've come to take you with me,
We must go and leave the rest."
"Your friends
will long remember,
All the cool times that we shared,
And the Angels will remind them,
How very much you cared."
Yes, I took those precious
children,
In the twinkling of an eye,
We were on our way to Heaven,
To their Schoolhouse in the sky.
I know your hearts
are broken,
I know the pain you bear,
My heart is also broken,
By the evil everywhere.
Please help me fight
this battle,
To keep our children safe,
Through prayers and love and sharing,
And holding to the Faith,
That Peace will surely
reign one day,
In schools throughout the lands,
For all our future hopes and dreams,
Rest in our students' hands.
I'll give you peace
to fill your heart,
Send sun to break the night,
Provide the strength to move beyond,
The wrongs and do what's right.
You ask how I can know
your pain,
>From the loss of your dear one,
It's because it seems like yesterday,
When I, too gave up a Son.
I love you,
God.
PS...
Tell all the kids about my Son!
They don't all know Him yet.