Question:
My son just called from school to tell me that President Clinton is
addressing the students-- I'm not sure if it's Channel 1 or national TV.
My son doesn't think it's a big deal. How do you explain to him that he
really is not as invincible as he thinks he is? How do you tell a 17 year
old that stuff like this can't be ignored and has to be talked about and
addressed?
Answer:
I know this isn't answering the question you posed (rhetorical?), but all
I can say is, really, if something of that magnitude happened at the high
school I went to, I'd never be able to set foot in that building again.
Ever. Period. Even if I had to go to night-school and settle for a G.E.D.
certificate. I mean my God, I graduated high school less than 15 years ago,
and the WORST thing I and my classmates EVER "worried" about was maybe a
food-fight breaking out in the cafeteria, or one of the class clowns showing
up late to homeroom with beer still on his breath.... but not a bloodbath in
the school library. Not the prospect of mass murder.
sigh... I get jittery and moody every time I think about it. Doesn't matter
that I'm grown-up now, with no kids, and live in Georgia, not Colorado.
Somehow it really hits *so* close to home... I mean, I just can't even
imagine having to deal with this kind of thing, like you're lucky just to be
alive and have all your limbs intact at the end of those four years, let
alone graduate on time. I try to imagine that, but trying to imagine it
just brings me to tears, so I've stopped trying for the moment.
