RED LION, Pennsylvania
A 14-year-old student shot and fatally wounded his principal before killing himself in front of students in the school cafeteria, police and school officials said Thursday.
Every time I see something like this, especially one that’s close to me or people I know, I second-guess what I’m getting myself into. How can I, as a teacher or principal at some point in the future, ensure that no kid will ever come after me with a gun? It’s scary.
Because it’s almost impossible to imagine someone coming after Mr. Richey with a gun, and you would be that kind of a teacher.
That’s much nicer than what I was going to say, which was: you can’t. But then, nothing in life is safe. You could be hit by a car, or shot by someone who wasn’t a student, just for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I don’t think a few shooting incidents are a good enough reason not to do what you feel called to do.
And the chances of you NOT getting shot are much, much higher than the chances of you getting shot.