It is not what it should be

There is a famous quote that said "You have nothing to fear but fear itself." It used to mean to me that you can do anything you want if you don't let yourself fear it. But today when I took my teenage son to school there were several police cars in different areas of the school parking lot. Deep down inside I didn't want to drop him off not knowing what was going on. But I knew that I would have to. It was already the second time this school year that I had seen the police in the parking lot. And school has only been in session for three weeks. The school sent a message out to the parents an hour after dropping him off. There was another threat of violence against the school. I am totally grateful that they took the threat seriously and were there to prevent it. However I am shocked that this has become a common occurrence that we have to live with. There is no safe place anywhere anymore. There is no sure way to stop the insanity we see in society. Of course I talk to my son about the horrific events of mass shootings so he is aware of the dangers so that he can be causious and stay safe. But at the same time I know it also makes him fearful. I want to shelter him to protect him from worrying but I know I can't it is better if he knows. That really sucks that I am the one giving him the facts that I know will take away his peace of mind. It really hurt when I was dropping him off to hear him say he wished they would just call off school for the day. I could see the fear in his eyes. When it happened a week earlier the school was on lockdown and he spent the classroom time huddled in the closet with his classmates. They didn't do any school work they just hunkered down waiting to see if a shooter would start a killing rampage. This isn't how life should be. Unfortunately it is the life we all live in. So that famous saying means nothing today because fear is always present. You seriously have to fear every day because these tragedies occur everyday.