What does anyone really actually know about anything? For the most part, what we think we “know” is actually more likely just what we believe to be true to one degree or another. In order for anyone to actually “know” something, they must have direct first-hand experience of all aspects of that thing. Everything else is based on second-hand information and is dependent on the accuracy of the source.
I do plan on providing my thoughts on the actual Feb. 14 event at the Parkland school later, but do also have a few stray related comments apart from what happened on that day. A lot of people have been quite outspoken about the Parkland students and the gun protests. In the interest of looking at ALL the angles, I present the following.
We all must remember that the vast majority of the students and faculty at the Parkland school did not see anyone shoot anyone. There are many buildings on that campus apart from the Freshman Building that was involved. Students and teachers in other buildings only know what they were told about the event by the media and local officials. The police presence around the school was their only first-hand experience of the event. Even in the targeted building, to my knowledge, no one knew who the shooter was until they told it was Nikolas Cruz by the police. Most of you have seen the video of the teacher with a red football shirt who said he didn’t recognize the shooter at the time because he was wearing a mask.
Regardless of what facts may eventually come out about the event, the school population, for the most part, experienced it through the official narrative. The psychological effects are the same if the narrative is true or false. While it may not be the case with some of the 'featured' students, other kids, both at the school and around the country, are reacting based on what they deeply believe is true. We must take that into consideration and realize that these are real secondary victims who have experienced a real loss of security.
The situation put a great deal of emotional stress on the school and surrounding community. It isn’t surprising that a lot of them would rally around the activist voices in their midst who seem to have been predisposed to an anti-gun agenda.
Even with that, and despite being minimized, there are voices in support of alternative solutions - including arming some qualified teachers or using personnel with former police or military training. There was the student who was invited to ask a scripted gun control question at the CNN Town Hall. He decided not to go because he had wanted to ask his own question about using retired military as guards. I very much wish that he would have still decided to go to the CNN Town Hall. Once on stage, he could still have asked his question instead of the one he was given.
Finally, with all the effort that David Hogg & friends have put into the anti-gun rhetoric to the exception of all else, I was surprised to find the video below. It was from a TMZ interview of Hogg’s mother, a teacher in the Parkland district. I’m not a fan of TMZ, but not one to dismiss anyone’s remarks just because of the platform they were aired on. When asked if she approved of Trump’s plan about arming teachers, she said “absolutely”, adding that she wouldn’t be comfortable doing that herself.