Sherburne-Earlville High School is vulnerable. So is every other school. In fact, we all are – and we always have been. We are all at the mercy of each other, and it is the ultimate test of our responsibility and civility. We could all inflict damage everywhere we went if we were inclined to. At the grocery store, at work, at a restaurant, at home, and at school. Laws and a mutual regard for human life are what generally keep us safe in these places, and we don’t have to constantly fear for our lives, despite the unspoken vulnerability.

As I walked through S-E , I was disturbed and ashamed of myself for exposing that vulnerability. I was disturbed because it was so easy to go from hall to hall, past room after room – past student after student – calculating the ease with which an individual(s) could cause untold damage. I was ashamed for even thinking that way, and for anybody that could consider and carry-out that kind of destruction.

I snuck into a school. I am not qualified to assess the level of security at a school, and when considering the unprecedented and random rash of school violence over the past ten years – I’m not certain anybody really is.