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The New College Prep Course
Remember how you felt when you were about to go off to college? It was a time that was full of excitement, great anticipation, and a probably a little scary as well. It was the first major step of your young life in preparing to become an adult. Albeit, for a few, some of that preparation work toward adulthood might have taken some a little longer than others. But for the most part, we survived. In fact, our college years are still some of the best times of our lives.
Going off to college these days, for our kids, has taken on a whole new sense of preparation. This is true not only for our kids but for parents as well. College has always been a place that has caused parents many a sleepless night. Concerns over whether or not we might get a call that one of our kids has gotten themselves into some sort of trouble are legitimate concerns.
We base this concern on the fact that we actually went to college and are fully aware of the opportunities, both good and bad, that occur.
But the typical concerns that we have always worried about are now a mere drop in the bucket as to what we worry about today. Students walking into a classroom, and opening fire on unsuspecting students is something that is impossible to prepare a child for. Students being killed in random crimes, where the taking of their lives was so unnecessary for the completion of the crime committed is more and more common.
Our concerns as to our children's safety on campus now must go well beyond fears of binge drinking, drugs or sexual promiscuity. We now have to actually be concerned as to their actual survival while attempting to do something as benign as pursuing an education. This dilemma is as complicated for our college and university officials as it is for us as parents. Major universities these days are much like many cities and towns in our nation. In fact, some of these campuses are now so large that they make up the majority of the jurisdiction in which they are located. Based on the size of these institutions and the student population enrolled, our nations institutes of higher learning have become an ideal location for someone deranged to make a statement, as well as for those normal thugs who are just looking for an unsuspecting target.
As expected, the response has been across the board. Everything from outlawing any firearm on campus to allowing every student to possess a weapon on campus has been considered. Sounds a lot like the proposed solutions for crime that are being offered for "off campus" crimes doesn't it? The truth of the matter is there is very little that can be done to stop the events that have dominated our newspapers over the past year or so. If someone is hell bent on committing a crime such as the Virginia Tech massacre, there is very little that can be done to prevent it. Other than putting armed guards with metal detectors at the entrance to every building, it is inevitable that a weapon can find its way into a classroom. And even if we took such a drastic measure, we would have lines of students, parents, and constitutional "experts" who would protest such an action. Furthermore, this measure would not protect the students who were simply going about their everyday business while on campus. Random crimes are called such for obvious reasons. They are random. The difficulties in preventing them are no different on campus than they are the streets or any other place.
University and college officials are desperately looking for measures to ensure safety on our campuses but there is no universal approach being taken. Due diligence is the new buzz word for student safety. It sounds good, even though I have no idea what it really means, but it isn't worth the breath that it takes to say it as far as real safety guarantees.
So, what are we to do? Do we just pack up our kids with their backpacks, laptops and new comforters and say have a great time? Or do we say that we are not willing to take a chance and seek alternative solutions to our kid's education, whereby this process takes place much closer to home in a more controlled environment. I wish I knew the answer to this question since I have a child who is not far from her college years as well. But, the honest truth is that I do not know what I will do when the time comes.
I suppose that I will do like many of you are doing, who now have kids preparing to be college freshmen. You teach them the best that you can as to making the right decisions and letting them know that all of their decisions have consequences. You prepare them to understand that they are many people in this world today who are hell bent on causing havoc and chaos, even if it means the taking of a life in the process.
You stay involved in your children's life, even though they are no longer living under our roof on a daily basis. And lastly, we will do what our parents did when we were students. We will pray. But with all that is going on in our world today, including our campuses, I would suggest that we pray harder than ever before. I can't guarantee that it will make your child any safer but I can guarantee that it will certainly not hurt their chances.
For further information, visit www.voice4victims.com
If you are interested in having Mr. Hall speak at your next club or group meeting, please email contact information to:
stanhall@voice4victims.com
031008
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