Stop with the lockdowns already...

When I was in school, the Big Bad Boogey-Man was Russia, and we were afraid of nuclear war.

I remember "duck and cover" drills in school, in case of nuclear attack.

Looking back, wasn't that unnecessary fear-mongering? And not just because there didn't happen to be a nuclear war. But because if there WAS a nuclear war, getting cut by flying glass because you didn't hide under your desk when the air raid sirens went off would be the least of your worries.

Today's Big Bad Boogey-Man are strangers in schools. We've had two incidents in Amherst this week where schools went into "lockdown" -- one ridiculous false alarm, and one genuine "somebody creepy and probably mentally unbalanced."

Which makes my skeptical mind wonder: is that just unnecessary fear-mongering? How many times has a school going into "lockdown" saved lives or injury? Can anybody point me to even one story of "Thank God we went into lockdown, that homicidal maniac found the doors locked and just gave up!"

Kids are much safer in school than any other place, despite the high-profile, tragic, terrible incidents that happen somewhere in the world once or twice a year. Kids in US schools are much safer overall than they have ever been.

And it's not because we're locking down our schools; adults in the US are much safer from violence than they've ever been.

I also remember learning to sing about how we're supposed to be living in "the land of the free, and the home of the brave." Locking our kids in their classrooms because we're so afraid of strangers in our schools is teaching them exactly the opposite.