When we were growing up in sunny San Lorenzo, California, the only drill we had to practice at school (besides a fire drill) was an earthquake drill. We were to crawl under our desks and place our hands on our heads to protect our heads. In today's world, our children practice fire drills, shelter-in-place drills and lock down drills. All of the school doors are locked except for the front entrance. Some schools (not in our area) even have metal detectors that you have to go through just to enter school. WOW! What a different day and time.
Let's go back to 2012. I was working at Bookcliff Middle School in a Special Ed classroom. One of the students could turn volatile. Usually you could see it coming. He never hurt me. Honestly we had a mutual respect and love actually. But that being said, it was still very nerve wracking every day. This particular student was actually pretty smart. He went to a full hour to an hour and a half math class every day. I got to accompany him to class. This class had some other students - labeled ED (emotionally disturbed). I got to know each of these students and I loved this class. I was particularly drawn to one boy. I remember coming up behind him to help him with a problem and putting my hand on his shoulder. He swung around and almost took a punch at me. (I had a lot to learn.) It turns out his mom was strung out on drugs all the time and his step-dad was physically abusive to him daily. It sucked! I honestly fell in love with this kid. I wanted to take him home with me and give him a new life. However, I knew that would not be the best for my own family.
I used to buy him groceries every other week. This school job made me no money at all. My paycheck after health insurance was like 800.00 a month and I spent half of that a month trying to feed this child. He would get soooooo blessed when I brought in food for him. His teacher gave him a drawer in the file cabinet for him to store it. I swear I bought enough for two weeks, but in four days he was out. He took some home and he shared! He just loved that he could share. This is where the story gets interesting. My co-worker had to remind me of this, but he would share with a certain boy that she called a "naughty." I don't remember him very well, but apparently every time I bought D food, D shared with this "naughty" boy.
Now to present day - Monday, February 8, 2016. I see on Facebook that my son's school is on lockdown and that the elementary school less than a mile away has cancelled Afternoon Kindergarten. Reverse 911 calls had gone out less than a mile away for people to stay in their homes. A call had come in that there was a young man walking around erractically with a gun. The police were called. The first officer to arrive approached the boy. The boy asked "Am I going to be detained?" The officer, said, "Yes." That was just enough to escalate the situation. I'm not sure of all the details, but the officer used his taser on the boy (instead of shooting him) and the boy took three shots and killed the officer. A young 40 year old husband and father of two children - gone - just like that. The boy had run and that was the reason for the lock downs and the reverse 911 calls. He was found hiding in someones backyard. The boy? (The "naughty" that my student D used to share his food with.)
This just hit me hard because I saw MANY students like this in Ben's class. Everyone wants to know "How is it in Colorado with legal marijuana? Isn't it great?" Well, no I don't think it is. I would say that 70 % and probably higher of the kids in 8th grade at Ben's old school have smoked marijuana or are exposed to it at home. Then I would say 40% possibly more are exposed to harder drugs then marijuana. This boy, the one who killed the police officer was strung out on meth at the time. This is not a proven fact yet. This is just what I am reading, but I don't doubt it. When you take a drug (marijuana) that alters your mind, it is very easy to move on to the next drug. Why do you need to "alter" your mind? Are you that unhappy with who you are? Well that's probably a topic for another blog post.
I sent Ben to a skating rink when he was in 6th grade and his friend's mom gave him a ride home. She was high and drunk. Yeah, that's right. That's why I drive my kids everywhere.
Most likely this "naughty" was from just a bad home life as the boy "D" that I fed. How do you overcome that? You have to be mighty strong. This boy is only 17. Most likely he will be in prison the rest of his life now. Could he have been saved? Could we have done more to help this child? I don't know.
I know that in Ben's new school it is very different. I'd say the percentage of kids that have tried marijuana in Ben's class is 1% or less. It is a VERY different atmosphere. The wife of the officer killed used to be a 1st grade teacher at Ben's present school, so all the teachers were sad this week. The school asked parents to make "baked" goods to bring to the sherrifs office. There was a good response to that.
Life is precious. Enjoy every day. Stay safe and know that you are loved!
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