The Shot Heard Round New Jersey

What an amazingingly fortuitous outcome to a potentially tragic event.

I heard the bullet went between a youngsters legs before exiting the classroom into an unoccupied room. Now that's freaking lucky.

The kid said he found the gun on the street. If he did, it was probably used in a recent crime. The police are probably doing ballistics right now.

This is very unfortunate. I voluteered at this school and donated school supplies to them last year. It's a wonderful place with a dedicated staff and great students and families. This is a nightmare. But thank God no one was hurt.

Having a child that is bright and good has nothing to do with their ability to make good judgement calls. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is becoming a problem for our kids. It is the "other 3 R's: Respect, Reliability and Responsibility". I will be talking to Bryan Jenkins this Tuesday on News 12 New Jersey about these values and how parents and educators can get them across to our kids. Because what we are doing now -- anti bullying and character education programs -- are clearly inadequate. They are bandaid-ing major surgery. Candy for a cancer patient. Too little too late. What we need are 2 things: Prevention programs form the educators and clear discipline, guidance and expectations from parents.

Tired but true: Insanity is repeating the same action and hoping for a different result.

1) 3rd graders trying to kill teacher
2) Florida Cheerleader assault
3) MHS gang assault
4) MSU bomb note
5) Linden gun incident
6) Kid who threatened to blow up high school

The question remains, how many Columbines does it take for parents to take action?

SocialSmarts doesn't have all the answers, but our program HAS eliminated bullying in ALL the schools it is in right now. As an evidenced based SEL program, we are successfully helping parents, educators and kids make the right choices by thinking of others first.

According to the Carnegie Mellon Foundation 85% of our success depends on our social skills; how we handle situations, and what choices we make about them.

Even if that child had found that gun, if he had the right tools to decide what to do with it, either from his parents or other trusted adult, he would have brought it to their attention and it would have ended there. But to have that gun in his back pack for an entire week and no one knew about it, is simply bewildering. Where on earth were his parents? Why didn't they know what was in that backpack? These are the questions we should be asking when the lives of children are at stake. The parents absolutely should be held accountable. And the child. And his teacher.