Unfortunately, what happened at Silver Rail Elementary School yesterday is not at all uncommon. In fact, there are incidents that involve shootings in schools almost daily. You may not have even heard about what happened yesterday until you read the post pointing to this article. What is happening? Well, they are becoming so common that, unless victimization levels are extreme, or the victims are children or some other really protected or helpless group, they are no longer newsworthy. 


Let's examine some commonalities - things that surface in every single incident, without fail. You will see, in the end, the resolve sits with those you least expect them to. 


  1. 1. No one ever thought it would happen here.


The problem? When you don't truly believe something will ever happen "here", or to you, you won't do anything to make sure it doesn't. This is why schools, and parents, spend very little time (usually the bare minimum required) to make sure it doesn't happen and, if it does, give the poetntial victims the skills to survive. 



  1. 2. There is blame placed on somebody, some group, or some "thing". 


The blame is placed on the parents of the suspect, school security, law enforcement, or...the guns. None of these are directly responsible, in general. 



  1. 3. There is outcry to make sure it never happens again. 


There has been this outcry every single time there is an incident like this. Who do we turn to for the solutions? The same exact people we have been turning to since Columbine, who have failed to find a solution hoping that  "maybe this time they'll get it right". And...they don't. 



  1. 4. The threat gets in.


Regardless of what any school has done to try and keep threats out, they get in. 



  1. 5. We have been led to believe, all our lives, that if a threat has a gun, we lose. 


The result? We lose. It doesn't have to be this way. 



  1. 6. The school, law enforcement, and others will keep us secure. 


And, they don't. And, they won't. And, they can't. 



  1. 7. We are created victims!


Yes, that is correct - we are created victims. 



  1. 8. We rely on experts that aren't really experts to find solutions to the problems.


The result? Not only do the solutions not work, they create more danger than doing nothing at all. 



  1. 9. The focus is on trying to keep people secure when it should be on teaching them how to BE secure. 


No one will be there to protect us...except us. 



We, can fix all of these things fairly easily. First, it's time to start "thinking outside the box". Start with - stop thinking it's never going to happen and do what is necessary to prepare properly and thoroughly. Next, stop placing the blame on others and expecting others to resolve the problem. The bottom line is that, if you are a parent, the primary responsibility for preparing your kids is yours. If you are a school or staff at a school or a school board, it's 100% your responsibility. 


There is much more to this but, it's all really simple - if you can think outside-the-box. The Personal Defense Project and The Secure Kids Project will contiue to provide information that you can use to change the resutls. 


As a parent, check out The Secure Kids Journals in our store. They give you everything you need to teach your kids how to BE secure.