Article April 2, 2001 Issue

A response to school shootings

The Christian Science Monitor

My kids' high school is something of a basketball legend in our state. The inside walls of the gym are draped with banners from years past — banners declaring the school league champs, division champs, even state champs. There's a special display case with photos of past stars, one or two of whom have gone on to successful careers in the NBA (National Basketball Association). As I write this, I know that tonight a key game comes up in the schedule, as they make a long-short run to become state champions for this year. You'd think that would be the buzz on campus this morning. But it's not. It's not at all.

Yesterday another school down the road, also a basketball stronghold, abruptly withdrew from competition. Could anyone blame them? It was Santana High School, the school the nation now knows, not as a basketball dynasty, but as the most recent site of tragic violence.

Since my own kids are involved in highschool athletics, they are acutely aware that some of their own potential future competitors were among those shot. And, I think, they are also acutely aware that engaging in an endless rehashing of the story has no healing in it.

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