It’s that time of the year again! Back-to-school season is always an emotional time. For young students, this involves new loves and new fears, and excitement (or dread) about the future. For parents – free babysitting! All jokes aside, we know these sentiments are very real for parents, too.
School supply shopping can be fun but is usually a pain, lightened a bit by our state back to school sales tax holiday later this week (August 2-6). Then there’s all the new logistical coordination that goes into getting your child in and out of school safely and on time – especially if they’re transitioning into middle or high school and you have children attending other schools or on differing schedules.
Unfortunately, this comes with a new era of school safety concerns and our first real attempts to deal with them. In the wake of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, almost a year and a half later, we’re beginning to see the implementation of countermeasures aimed at preventing those atrocities from ever happening again. The countermeasures would ideally work twofold by preventing future events while also giving some peace of mind to students and parents worried about their collective safety.
While the effectiveness of new mental health instruction (see New Mandate for Mental Health Education in this newsletter) will remain to be seen, the notion of providing a more receptive atmosphere to dealing with all forms of mental health issues is a positive one that can help us all feel a bit more confident in our children’s safety. Meanwhile, the mass marketers are at work, offering items online such as bulletproof backpacks and other personal protection devices. It is indeed a different environment from that which many of us enjoyed in a seemingly simpler, more innocent time.
Where we can help, we should. The less we have to worry about our collective safety, the easier it becomes to focus on getting the education our children need to grow, self-actualize, and become productive members of society. We’re always stronger as a community when our children are the priority, and with that in mind let’s take the back-to-school season on with our best foot forward!
See you on the trail,
Lisa
LMA Newsletter of 7-29-19
