Millard Public Schools hired a consultant to give them suggestions on safety they seemingly could have gotten from a cheap pamphlet or mail-order book. I would love to know how much Crisis Management Inc. got paid for this mostly impractical and sometimes completely ridiculous advice. They suggested things like a ban on cell phones and baggy clothes, and a requirement of see-through backpacks and identification cards that must be worn by all students. Anybody could have come up with that advice and I think most of us could find holes in all of it. I think this firm’s sole reason for existing is the opportunity to prey on the irrational fears of parents, teachers and administrators. I call them irrational fears because the truth is school shootings are exceedingly rare. It was estimated by Dewey Cornell of the University of Virginia that the average school can expect an on-campus homicide once every 12,000 years. So the steps being taken by Millard Public Schools is analogous to someone hiring a CPA for tax advice in case he ever wins the lottery. Sure you could do it in order to be prepared, but it will almost certainly prove to be a waste of time and money. Obviously when these school shootings do happen they are tragic and incomprehensible, but what is nearly as incomprehensible to me is the ridiculous overreaction by people who should know better.
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