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<p>I don’t think any children got out of the affected classroom safely, so there probably were no child survivors who were direct witnesses to the shooting. Still, there were plenty who heard the gunshots, who were hidden in closets, who were evacuated from the building, and who will go home to find neighbors or even siblings gone forever.</p>
<p>And can you imagine returning to a school from which an entire classroom of children is missing – and so is the principal?</p>
<p>NRA: If those kindergarteners had been armed, none of this would have happened.</p>
<p>Blessed are the teachers who had it together enough to make sure the kids covered their eyes before walking through the school. I’m not sure I would have been thinking that clearly and it might have saved these kids a lifetime of seeing that image.</p>
<p>I think that building will never reopen as a school. Too much pain. </p>
<p>If you have an issue with your mother, that’s one thing, but to take it out on 18-20 innocent kindergardeners, that’s about as bad as it gets.</p>
<p>I wonder of some of the families from that school will begin homeschooling. I just can’t imagine sending my child (esp a little child) back to a school where their classmates were brutally murdered. I would be unable to tell my child that while yesterday it was unsafe to be at school, today it’s safe. </p>
<p>Too much grief. I am so sorry for those families affected.</p>
<p>Neuroticparent–I can’t believe you said that.</p>
<p>I haven’t been able to get on Facebook most of the afternoon. I don’t know if the site is crashing or it’s something on our end. </p>
<p>How do you explain this to 5 year olds???</p>
<p>Marian, that was my 14-year-old daughter’s first thought - “How are they going to put the pieces back together without their principal?” So sad.</p>
<p>I don’t know how this kind of thing can be prevented. The UT Tower shooter was a student of my father’s. Dad said he was an excellent student and he NEVER would have thought the guy could do something like that. I have a photo of a student organization with Dad (the advisor) and Charles Whitman in the group.</p>
<p>it made me feel sick. those poor children</p>
<p>FWIW: </p>
<p>The top 10 countries with the highest murder rates:</p>
<ol>
<li> Honduras</li>
<li> El Salvador</li>
<li> Cote d’Ivoire</li>
<li> Jamaica</li>
<li> Venzuela</li>
<li> Belize</li>
<li> Guatemala
8 St. Kitts and Nevis</li>
<li> Zambia</li>
<li> Uganda</li>
</ol>
<p>I was just curious. The U. S. is no where near the top of this list but nearer the bottom along with Northern Europe.</p>
<p>Please don’t assume I’m pro-gun. I’m not. I just think something is also going on to provoke these perpetrators. And I think the volume of the media coverage of the incidents plays a role. And I also don’t think there’s much to be done about that.</p>
<p>Not a gun owner here and don’t get why people want them. I have a neighbors who hunts with all kinds of guns on his walls. He’s a nice man so I guess those types figure in the debate.</p>
<p>gouf78, That is the NRA’s position - guns for protection in every school. Our country has crossed over to the darkest side because of the insane gun lobby. Maybe this unfathomable tragedy will finally change things.</p>
<p>[More</a> Guns, More Mass Shootings?Coincidence? | Mother Jones](<a href=“http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/09/mass-shootings-investigation]More”>More Guns, More Mass Shootings—Coincidence? – Mother Jones)</p>
<p>Motherjones analyzed many, many gun shootings. An armed civilian is very unlikely to ameliorate the situation.</p>
<p>Gypies, I’ve got a firm belief in the freedom of the press, but I tend to agree with you that reckless reporting may need to punished with some kind of sanction. I mean, the FCC hands out multimillion dollar fines for ‘naughty words,’ to paraphrase George Carlin.</p>
<p>Steve - you focus on the kids who were protected, and what was done to protect them. There is no completely safe place, and I think kids know that instinctively. So don’t focus on the “unsafe” places, but on what is done to make places as safe as possible.</p>
<p>From some of the interviews, it is clear the shooter entered the main office, and was arguing with someone, presumably the principal. She, or someone else, thought quickly enough to turn on the intercom, so the rest of the school could hear what was happening. They were not in the position to signal a lockdown, but the message was clear to the teachers - there was a potentially dangerous intruder in the building - so followed their training, and protected the kids. One boy was in the hallway when the shooting began, and a teacher from a nearby classroom grabbed him and pulled him into her classroom to keep him safe. </p>
<p>Parents in our town are already calling for a review of security procedures here, but I think this incident has shown that the procedures in place worked. Unfortunately they didn’t save all the children, but I shudder to think it could have been worse if the teachers had not had that warning. Some things can’t be prevented, but they can be mitigated.</p>
<p>Even the NRA is not as strong as you would think. Many of their members belong in order to get cheap gun insurance. But not all of them oppose gun control.</p>
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<p>Consolation, my oldest D was in kindergarten when that happened. We were at a ski resort, she was off in ski school and I was in a completely different area of the resort. When I heard, I HAD to see her physically. I went and rode the ski lift up and skiied down in the area where the ski school takes the kids for about an hour until I saw her. Even though we were thousands of miles away, I had a basic, biological need to make sure she was safe. And I was also thinking about that today when I heard of this.</p>
<p>Gouf, Neuroticparent is just saying what the NRA says EVERY TIME a mass shooting happens, with a small amount of sarcasm. I bet you can already find people saying that this could have been solved by the teacher’s carrying weapons.</p>
<p>As an aside, I heard this fascinating piece about the media and mistaken identify recently. Worth a listen and some food for thought on the rush to report identities of anyone involved in a news story. This woman had to escape from Iran to avoid the secret police after this media snafu:</p>
<p>[“My</a> Stolen Face” - On The Media](<a href=“http://www.onthemedia.org/2012/nov/30/my-stolen-face/?utm_source=local&utm_media=treatment&utm_campaign=daMost&utm_content=damostviewed]"My”>http://www.onthemedia.org/2012/nov/30/my-stolen-face/?utm_source=local&utm_media=treatment&utm_campaign=daMost&utm_content=damostviewed)</p>
<p>And, TG? Because we’re not near the top there’s no problem? What’s your point?</p>
<p>There is mass shooting after mass shooting. I don’t care how it stacks with other countries, it needs to stop HERE and NOW.</p>
<p>Lake, exactly. IMO there is a difference between free reporting and responsible reporting. This could literally cause someone their life one day. Could you imagine be misidentified as a child abuser or molester because of a name similarity and an irresponsible reporter?</p>
<p>I really disliked the comments that there was something wrong with American culture, as though the U. S. is the worst country in the world for murder. It isn’t. Let’s at least get our facts straight as we discuss this.</p>
<p>And of course I would like the murder rate to be zero, but that is never going to happen. </p>
<p>There are 300 million guns in this country. We will never get rid of them.</p>
<p>I think that all that can come out of a tragedy like this is that people be aware of those they know who exhibit strange behavior, have guns or other weapons and who may snap. The psychiatrists and other school officials in Colorado with the Batman murders who may have suspected something and did nothing…we all need to be vigilant. </p>
<p>Edited to add: Jared Loughner in Tucson, another case. I seem to recall that there were school reports on him, but no one did anything.</p>
<p>The Virginia Tech killer. Another one in which mental health officials suspected he was dangerous.</p>
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<p>Why not say it? A lot of us have been thinking it.</p>