Damn You, Adam Lanza

And every other POS like you who who would even consider killing a bunch of completely innocent little schoolchildren because your life maybe wasn't all you wanted it to be.  Bastard.

School board meeting tonight.  We spent half of it discussing whether we need bulletproof glass and bars on our small local school's doors and windows.  Whether we need an armed police officer on campus at all times.  Whether we need a double entry door with someone checking IDs.  We had already, as it happened, replaced all the classroom doors and locks last summer to make them more intruder-proof. We already have an active shooter drill every month in addition to the regular slate of fire drills.  Are metal detectors and pat-downs for eight year-olds next?

We are turning our schools into fortresses and our teachers and staff into guards.  In some states, armed guards.  Does this make our kids feel safe or threatened?  Hard to tell.  Is it a good educational environment?  Probably not.  Is it freaking ridiculous that we even have to have these conversations? Absolutely.

We need mental health research and destigmatization.  We need better medications with fewer side effects.  And we also need places to safely and humanely sequester people who are a danger to themselves or others.

We don't need mentally ill whack-jobs on the loose with firearms.  Or elementary schools barricaded more securely than Fort Knox.

Dammit.

*climbs off soapbox*